


Please Stay

by believesinponds



Series: Please Stay Verse [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Children, Kent also drops out of the draft, M/M, Mexican Kent, Multi, Multiple Partners, Oral Sex, Penetrative Sex, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Trans Character, Trans Kent, canon adjacent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-26 08:02:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14996423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/believesinponds/pseuds/believesinponds
Summary: When Kent finds out he's pregnant, he drops out of the draft and moves back East with his sister. Five years later he's married to Jeff Troy of the Providence Falconers and raising their two kids in peace. His daughter, Ariana, knows that she has a biological father out there but doesn't know anything about him...until the Falcs management decides that they want to sign Jack Zimmermann.[A story about raising kids, building connections, and coming together as a family.]





	1. You In Everything I Do

**Author's Note:**

  * For [palateens](https://archiveofourown.org/users/palateens/gifts).



> Spanish words/conversation: Folks on a computer can hover over the text for a pop-up translation. (For folks on mobile, I'll write out the translations at the end of each chapter.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Chapter Tags:  
> -mentions of pregnancy  
> -gender fluidity (he/they pronouns)

**-2009-**

_“ ¿Bueno?”_

“Liv.”

“Kenny? What’s wrong? _¿Qué pasó? ”_

“Uh.” Kent pulled at a loose thread on his blanket. “You, uh, remember when you told me to always use protection every time, no matter what?”

“Yes…”

“Well.” He blinked hard, squeezing out a few tears. “I didn’t.”

She was quiet for moment. “Okay. It’s okay. People slip up, Kenny, it’s not the end of the world. Did it just happen last night?”

“Uh, no. It was—” he let out an involuntary laugh “—well, it was about six weeks ago.”

A pause. “Oh. You’re—have you taken a test? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ve been nauseous for a couple weeks, and at first I thought it was just, like, nerves or whatever because of the draft but. Well, I did the math this morning and I looked up a bunch of early symptoms and—yeah. I just took the test now.”

“Okay. How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you know what you want to—”

“No. I don’t know.”

“Okay, listen. You don’t have to decide right now, _mijo._ You have time. I'll be there tomorrow and we can talk it over, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

“It’s gonna be okay, got it?”

“Yeah, all right. Liv?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

 _“ Te quiero,_ Kenny.”

_“ Te quiero.”_

* * *

**-2015-**

“Ariana! We’re going to be late!”

“Coming, Papi!”

Kent latched the harness on the baby’s seatbelt and brushed a finger over his cheek. “Are you ready to go see Daddy, Vinny?”

The baby clapped his hands. “Dada!”

“I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready!” Ari flew down the stairs, her blue tutu in one hand and her Bob the Builder backpack in the other. “Let’s go!”

“You got your jacket in there?”

“Yes, Papi.”

“And your coloring books?”

_“ ¡Ayyyy sí, Papi, estoy lista!”_

The car honked from the driveway and Kent rolled his eyes, lifting Vicente’s car seat and taking Ari by the hand. “All right, sounds like your _tía_ is waiting for us. Let’s go.”

Navigating the rink with little kids was always a bit of a challenge, even as family of a player. Kent was relieved when they finally got to the box with only one brief screaming incident from Vinny.

“Auntie Carrie! Look at my tutu!”

“Wow! It matches your jersey!” Carrie Robinson held Ari back to see the outfit, tugging playfully on one of her pigtails. “Go Falcs!”

“Go Falcs!” Ari cried back.

“All right, munchkin. Why don’t you set up at the table over here?” Liv tapped one of the small plastic chairs set up at a kid-sized table.

“I wanna watch! Where’s Daddy?”

Kent lifted her up and stood by the glass, pointing down at the ice. “Let’s see if we can find him. What color jersey do you think he’s wearing?”

“Blue! Like me!”

Kent kissed her cheek, smiling. “That’s right, baby! Do you remember his number?”

“Ummmm...forty!”

Kent smiled. “Close. It’s four _teen_.”

“Four _teen_.”

“Good job.”

 _“ ¿Y en español?”_ Liv asked.

_“ ¡Catorce!”_

_“ ¡Muy bien!”_ Liv poked her nose, making Ari giggle. “You want to come color a picture of Daddy in his jersey, _mija?”_

_“ ¡Sí!”_

Vicente, suddenly aware that nobody was paying attention to him, started fussing. Kent chuckled and pulled him out of the stroller. “Did we ignore you too long, _mijo?”_

Carrie laughed and held out her arms. “Come sit with your auntie, Vinny.”

“Thanks.” Kent passed the baby to her. “He might be hungry—I’ll just get a bottle started.”

The game went by as usual. Kent traded baby duty with Carrie while Liv helped Ari and Princess color pictures of their daddies playing hockey. When the game was over they waited in the family box for the boys to be done with press and then headed down to meet them.

“Daddy!” Ariana ran at her father and jumped at him. Jeff was talking to Snowy and only just reached down in time to catch her, wincing at the weight of her pulling on his shoulder.

 _“¡Ariana Zeta Villanueva!”_ Kent chased after her, pulling her from his husband’s arms. “We talked about this!”

She frowned and leaned over to kiss Jeff’s shoulder. “Sorry, Daddy.”

Jeff waved Snowy off and cupped her cheek. “That’s okay, baby, I’m fine.”

“But we still need to be careful,” Kent said sternly.

“Okay, Papi.”

Jeff took Kent’s hand and kissed his cheek. “Hey, babe. You like the game?”

Kent huffed and gestured at the sleeping baby in Liv’s arms. “I barely saw anything. But I caught your goal on the replay.” He pulled Jeff to him, kissing him gently. “You’re amazing.”

“Come on.” Jeff grinned. “Let’s go home.”

The game was late enough that when they got home it was already past time for the kids to go to bed. Liv took the baby up to change him and feed him another bottle and Kent helped Ari through her nighttime routine.

“I want Daddy to read me a story!”

Kent kissed her forehead. “I’ll go get him, _mija.”_

He found Jeff in his pajamas, lying across the couch half-asleep. Kent leaned over him and gave him a soft kiss. “You look tired, _mi amor.”_

“Hmm.” Jeff rubbed at his face and yawned. “It was kind of a rough game.”

“Baby.” Kent ran his fingers through Jeff’s hair, smiling at the little hum he received. “Ari asked for you to read her a story, but I can tell her you’re asleep if you want to rest.”

Jeff groaned. “If we do that she’s gonna throw a fit.”

“I know.” Kent scratched his scalp gently. “But she’ll survive. And she needs to learn that things won’t always go her way.”

Jeff closed his eyes and Kent focused on massaging the spot that always bothered him. He used his other hand to hold Jeff's injured shoulder.

After a minute Jeff opened his eyes again and smiled up at Kent. “I love you.”

Kent hummed and leaned down to kiss him again. “I love you, too.”

“I should probably go read her a story.”

“Mmm, probably, yeah.” Kent held out a hand, pulling Jeff up by his good arm and holding him close. “You’re an awesome dad, you know.”

Jeff buried his face in Kent’s neck. “Not as good as you.”

“Please.” Kent pinched his side, grinning at the squirm it elicited. “You’re amazing and you know it. Now go read a bedtime story to our daughter.”

Jeff gave him a soft smile and a kiss. “Love you, babe.”

Kent winked and then swatted his ass as he turned to go. “Love you too.”

* * *

They rented out an entire pizza-and-play place for Ariana’s fifth birthday. The kids were allowed endless tokens as a gift from the Villanueva Troy family. There was pizza, salad, beer, and a giant birthday cake from a local bakery that was shaped like a kid’s work bench, brightly-colored tools and all. When the time came, Ari blew out the candles and then immediately went back to climbing through the plastic tunnels and screaming with the other kids.

“I’m telling you, man, we need another center.” Marty took a bite of his pizza and spoke through his full mouth. “Rocky is great, but we don’t have enough for a strong second line and don’t even get me started on the way we keep switching things up for the fourth.”

“You guys are doing fine. Jackie is holding his own and I’m sure you’ll get somebody before the trade deadline to cover the fourth line.”

Guy shook his head. “We need to restructure if we’re going to make a run for the playoffs next year. I don’t think we have a very good chance this year.”

They all knocked on the table.

“We might have had a chance if Zimmermann wasn’t so stubborn about finishing college.”

Kent choked on his beer.

Jeff’s eyes widened and he squeezed Kent’s knee under the table. “We’re looking at Zimmermann?”

“Well yeah.” Guy frowned at Kent. “I figured he told you, Kent. George met with him a few months ago.”

“Ah—” Kent coughed, still clearing his throat. “We, uh, don’t really keep in touch.”

The rest of the table stared at him. He could feel his face flushing, and his chest was constricted. Marty seemed to notice that something was off and quickly changed the subject back to possible trades.

Kent touched his chest quickly, turning it into a scratch to avoid any suspicion. He excused himself to go check on the kids and headed over to the play area. Everyone seemed fine and the screaming was a little overwhelming, so he slipped out the front door and walked around to the side of the building, sliding down to sit on the sidewalk. The brick wall was warm against his back, and he held his hand to his chest while he watched cars drive by in the setting sunlight.

A minute later he was joined by Jeff, who wrapped an arm around him and put his own hand against Kent’s chest. Kent held it there tightly.

“I’m—sorry,” Kent murmured, stumbling over the word while he tried to catch his breath.

“Shh, it’s okay, baby.” Jeff pressed a kiss to his head. “You want to do the senses thing?”

Kent nodded.

“Okay. What are five things you can see?”

Kent waited a moment, his breathing still erratic, before opening his eyes and speaking quietly. “My jeans. The sidewalk. Your arm.” He took another breath and looked up. “A bush. The rocks.”

“Good. What are four things you can feel?”

Kent let out another breath. “Your hand. The wall. Um. My blouse riding up my back. The ground.”

“Good, baby. You’re doing great. What are three things you can hear?”

“The traffic. The wind blowing some leaves. Your fingers rubbing the fabric on my shirt.” Kent was breathing more normally now. He squeezed Jeff’s hand in gratitude.

“Two things you smell?”

“The winter air.” He inhaled deeply through his nose. “Your cologne.”

“One thing you taste.”

Kent laughed. “Beer.”

Jeff smiled and pulled him closer, kissing his hair. “Better?”

“Yeah.” Kent took a few more breaths, the weight in his chest mostly gone. “Thank you, babe.”

“Of course, love. Any time.” He kissed his head again. “You want to sit here a few more minutes?”

“Yeah. The heat from the wall and the sidewalk is kind of soothing.”

Jeff snorted. “You’re insane. It’s _freezing_ today.”

“Nah, it’s not that bad. And the sun was heating them up all afternoon.”

“Seriously, you are such a weirdo.”

“Guess it’s good I didn’t go to Vegas.”

Jeff squeezed his arm. “You wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t know.” Kent tilted his head to rest on Jeff’s shoulder. “Maybe later? We should probably get back to the party. I don’t want Ari to notice we’re gone.”

“She’ll be okay, babe.” He held Kent tight for a moment. “We can talk tonight if you want. Maybe call and make an appointment with Martha.”

“Yeah, okay. That’s probably a good idea.”

Jeff stood and held out a hand to help Kent up. “Wanna lose to me at skeeball?”

Kent rolled his eyes. “Like you could ever beat me.”

“Guess we’ll have to see. Loser takes early-morning baby duty?”

Kent grinned at him. “You’re on.”

* * *

“I guess…” Kent pinched the fabric of their skirt between their fingers. “I guess I still wonder what could’ve happened.”

Martha smiled at them. “That seems reasonable.”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s not like I regret it. I wouldn’t give up my kids for anything in the world. But...what if we had remembered a condom? Or what if I had decided to go through with the draft? Would I—would he have still overdosed?”

“Do you think that would’ve changed things?”

“Well yeah. If he hadn’t overdosed he wouldn’t have stopped talking to me.”

Martha leaned forward, her arms resting on her knees.

“I mean, okay, obviously I can’t know that for sure. But...it could’ve happened. You know? And maybe...we would still be together. Maybe we’d even be on the same team at this point.”

“That’s a lot of maybes.”

Kent huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I guess it is. I know it’s not productive to worry about maybes, but sometimes I just...can’t help it.”

“Well that’s okay.” Martha took a sip of her tea, smiling. “It’s a part of your anxiety, and if you can take a moment to recognize that, it can help with the stress that those ‘maybes’ bring.”

They breathed in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah. I guess that’s right. It does help when I acknowledge that I’m anxious.”

“Good. I’m glad that helps.”

Kent sighed. “But now I’m worried about what will happen if Jack signs with the Falcs.”

“That makes sense. What are you worried about?”

“I’m...I’m worried that he’ll still hate me. Our last conversation didn’t go all that well. I don’t know if you remember...I kissed him. And then I told him I was married and he kicked me out of his room before I could explain anything else.”

“So he doesn’t know that you live in Providence?”

“No. He has no idea who I’m married to or that I have two kids or—or anything, really. And I’m—” they swallowed and looked down at their hands, their voice going quieter “—I’m scared he’s going to figure it out. That Ari is his.”

“Do you want him to know?”

“No. Or, maybe. I don’t really know what I want.”

“Have you considered telling him?”

“Yeah. Actually, I think I’m more scared that I’ll feel like I have to tell him. He didn’t react well to me being married, so I can’t imagine he’ll be okay with the kid thing.”

“Do you feel like you have to tell him?”

Kent sighed and closed their eyes, holding their mug to their face and inhaling the peppermint. “Fuck. I don’t know. Kind of?”

She nodded but stayed quiet.

“I guess I think that I’d want to know, if it were me. Like he probably deserves to know.”

Martha sipped her own tea.

“You’re not gonna tell me what to do, are you?”

She laughed. “It’s not for me to decide, Kent.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” They smiled.

“Well, we can talk about ways to tell him if you want to feel it out. Or you could do a little homework and write a letter as practice.”

“Yeah, that might help. I’ll try to do that this week.”

“And we can always do it in session if you prefer.”

“Thanks.” Kent took a deep breath and let it out, feeling much lighter than they did that morning. “It always helps when I get to talk to you about this shit.”

Martha chuckled and crossed one leg over the other. “Well that’s what I’m here for.”

* * *

_Hey Zimms,_

_I’m not sure how to start this? It’s been a while since we last talked, so—maybe I’ll start there._

_I probably shouldn’t have pushed you that night. Most of the things I said were designed to hurt, and I know that’s not a good way to communicate. I’m sorry for saying them. I know I shouldn’t have done it and I regretted it almost immediately. I hope you can forgive me. I didn’t mean them and they are not true._

_When I told you I was married you kind of freaked out, and I understand why. I should have led with the fact that we’re polyamorous—we both date other people and we talk extensively about our boundaries and our feelings and shit. Jeff knew that I might end up doing something with you and he was absolutely okay with it. (Well, other than the fact that he thought you would just hurt me again. Guess he was right about that one. But I hurt you, too, so. Fair’s fair.)_

_Anyway. Um. I know everyone was wondering why I dropped out of the draft and kind of disappeared off the face of the earth. I probably should have told you sooner, but. You were in rehab and then you didn’t want to talk to me and I wasn’t really in the best state of mind about everything, so I just didn’t say anything. You probably deserve to know, though._

_So, I dropped out of the draft because I was pregnant. I found out that day, before everything happened. I was planning to tell you that night, but then you were...unconscious. And I called 911 and they took you away and nobody would let me see you. And your parents told me you needed space, so I just went home with Liv and somehow we both missed out on the NHL._

_Her name is Ariana. She just turned five. I also have a son with Jeff—he’s just a baby, not even one yet. Ari is the light of my life. She’s thoughtful and passionate and I think she’s gonna be a carpenter because she is absolutely obsessed with building things. Jeff got her a working tool kit for her birthday and she loves it more than anything. We take her to Home Depot on the weekends and they provide the materials for the kids to do a project. She loves it._

_Jeff and I have been together for several years now and she knows him as her dad. He raised her with me. I don’t have any expectations of you getting involved in her life, but if you want to...we would both be okay with that. She knows that Jeff isn’t her bio dad, but I haven’t told her much about you. Sometimes she asks, though. I think she might like to get to know you._

_I hope you’re doing okay. I hope school is good for you. I know I was an asshole about your team, and I’m really sorry for that—I talked it over with my therapist and there was definitely some unresolved bitterness and jealousy around you deciding to drop out of the draft. I know now that you didn’t decide to do it any more than I did, but—yeah. That was what drove me to be a jerk and I want you to know that I understand a little better now._

_Please don’t hate me. I’m scared that you’re going to hate me when you find out that I kept this from you. I really, really hope that you don’t hate me._

_Maybe if you go to the Falcs I’ll actually tell you. Maybe I’ll tell you even if you go somewhere else. I don’t know. We’ll see, I guess._

_I miss you, Zimms. And...I love you._

_Please please please don’t hate me._

_Kenny_

“You okay, babe?”

Kent shook his hand, a little cramped from writing for so long, and closed his journal. “Yeah.” He blinked at realized there were tears leaking out of the corner of his eye. “Oh. I didn’t realize—” he wiped them away “—I’m fine.”

“Okay.” Jeff kissed his cheek. “I’m here if you want to talk.”

“Nah, it’s nothing new. I’m just writing a letter for counseling. I think it helped a bit to get it all on paper.”

“Well that’s good. I’m proud of you, you know?”

Kent blushed. “Shut up.”

“I am.” Jeff wrapped his arms around him and pressed another kiss to his cheek, then one to his jaw, and one to his neck. “I love you so much and I am so fucking proud of you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kent said, pulling him closer. “I love you, too.”

* * *

Ariana was sick for family skate and she was _not happy_ about it.

“But I wanna go,” she whispered, her throat too scratchy to talk any louder.

“Oh, _mija,_ I know.” Kent wiped a damp cloth gently across her forehead. “There will be plenty of other family skates.”

“But Princess gets—” her voice cracked and then she was coughing. Kent sat up a bit, propping her up with his chest and reaching for the vaporub.

“Come on, _Ariana, mi corazón. Vamos a descansar.”_ He kissed the top of her head. _“¿Quieres ver_ La princesa y el sapo?”

She shifted on his lap, turning to press her cheek against his bare chest. She was still too warm. _“ Sí, porfa.”_

“Okay, _ mija._” He flipped through their digital library, choosing the Spanish version. The opening music began, the screen showing the night sky, and Ariana relaxed into him. “There you go, baby. Let’s just rest.”

They both dozed through the movie. Every once in a while Kent would wake up to music playing or characters talking, and when the credits rolled he found _Frozen_ and put that on next.

His phone buzzed just as he was closing his eyes again, so he picked it up and glanced at the screen.

 **Liv**  
_Kent!!!!! What do I do?????_

Kent sighed and held his thumb over the home button, opening his messages and reading the missed texts from his sister.

 **Liv**  
_Made it to the rink! I’ll text you when we’re heading home._  
_We’ll probably pick up something to eat on the way._  
_Dude._  
_Um, Jack is here._  
_Zimmermann, obviously._  
_Maybe he won’t recognize me._  
_Well shit, he definitely recognized me. He thought I was one of the WAGs?_  
_I told him I’m just a friend._  
_Okay he’s skating with Marty now. Should I say something? Should I mention you???_  
_Fuck, Jeff just came over and handed me the baby. Jack totally thinks this is my baby._  
_Do I tell him that you’re with Jeff? Or maybe Jeff should tell him that???_  
_Kent!!!!! What do I do?????_

 **Kent**  
_wtf  
he’s seriously there???_

 **Liv**  
_Yes and he’s heading my way.  
What if he asks about you?_

 **Kent**  
_fuck fuck fuck i don’t know_  
_i guess you should just tell him?_  
_he’s gonna find out. the whole team knows._  
_just don’t tell him about ari, obvs_

She didn’t respond again. Kent sighed and opened his conversation with Jeff.

 **Kent**  
_liv is gonna tell jack about us  
i told her to go ahead_

He set his phone back on the coffee table, not expecting a response for a while.

He must have dozed off again, because the next thing he heard was the baby crying and Jeff trying to calm him down. Liv was hovering over the couch, a bag of food in her hand and a new washcloth for Ariana’s forehead.

“ _Mijo_. Why don’t you take a break?”

Kent groaned and rubbed at his eyes. “But Ari needs—”

“I’ll watch her for a bit, don’t worry.” She lifted Ari from his arms and nudged him to get up, settling back in his spot with Ari stretched out next to her, her little head resting on one of the throw pillows.

He stretched his arms above his head and let out a sigh. Then his head sprang back in his sister’s direction, eyes wide. “Wait! Jack—?”

“Go talk to Jeff. He’s the one who had the conversation.” Liv tucked the blanket around Ariana and stroked her hair. “We’ll be fine here.”

Jeff was just closing the door to the baby’s room when Kent found him.

“Hey, baby,” Jeff whispered, pulling him into a hug. “You feel warm.”

“The big one was sleeping on me,” he said, nuzzling his face into the crook of Jeff’s neck. “You gonna tell me what happened?”

He felt Jeff’s hand in his hair and let out a quiet sigh.

“You wanna shower with me?”

“Mmm.” He kissed Jeff’s collarbone. “You saying I smell?”

Jeff laughed. “I’m saying you’ve been napping with a sweaty, feverish five-year-old and you should probably wash that shit off of you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kent hugged him tight and then pulled him toward their bedroom. Kent shucked off his pants and underwear, beating Jeff by a mile. (Jeff protested that there was cheating involved due to Kent’s pre-existing lack of clothes, but Kent just smiled and grabbed the good loofah to lather up his body.)

“So.” Jeff climbed into the shower, pulling the glass door shut behind him and stepping into the spray. “Jack Zimmermann was at family skate.”

Kent snorted. “Yeah, I heard.” He squirted a small glob of shampoo into his hand and rubbed it into Jeff’s wet hair. “So what happened?”

“Well he recognized Liv, obviously. And then when I went over to her with the baby he asked how we knew each other.”

Kent sighed, nodding his head. “Okay.”

“She told him that I was her brother-in-law, he told her, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize you got married. Congratulations.’ And then I corrected him.”

“Of course.” Kent detached the shower head from the wall and used it to rinse Jeff’s hair, holding his hand on top of his forehead to keep the water away from Jeff’s eyes. “How did he react?”

Jeff reached out and touched Kent’s waist, squeezing gently. “He seemed surprised. He didn’t say much, though." Jeff tilted his head back when prompted, the suds running out of his hair and down his back. "Guy and Tater ended up pulling him into their conversation and we didn’t really talk after that.”

Kent finished rinsing, replaced the shower head, and then stepped into Jeff’s arms. He let out slow a breath. “Okay.”

Jeff kissed his forehead. “You should probably text him or something.”

“Yeah. I guess I should.”

They traded spots and Jeff lathered up Kent’s hair. “This is getting long, babe. You thinking about growing it out?”

Kent shrugged. “Maybe. I was actually thinking about bleaching it again. Or maybe doing something colorful.”

“Mmm, I think that would be cool. What color?”

“I dunno. I always thought pink would be fun.” He leaned his head back and grinned at Jeff. “Or maybe Falconers blue?”

“Hah.” Jeff kissed his cheek. “Well I’m sure I’ll love it no matter what you do.”

Kent turned in his arms and kissed him deeply. “Good answer.”

* * *

“So.” Jack pulled a chunk off his muffin. “You’ve got a kid.”

Kent sipped his coffee. “Yeah. Well, two kids. Vicente is my second.”

“Ah. So you and Jeff have been together a while, then?”

“Several years, yeah. But, uh...I had Ariana before I met Jeff.”

Jack paused in his muffin destruction. “Really? When did you have her?”

Kent let out a shaky sigh and put his cup down. He stared at his hands for a moment, scratching at a little patch of dry skin, and then he said, “I had her in 2010. February.”

He watched as Jack’s brow furrowed for a moment and then shot up. “Shit.”

“Yeah, uh.” He breathed in and let it out slowly. “The morning before...you know. I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. And I just couldn’t imagine _not_ going through with it, so I—I dropped out of the draft.”

Jack looked too shocked to function. He was frozen in place, staring at a spot just beyond Kent’s head. Kent let out another slow breath and then sipped his coffee.

“Is—” Jack’s coughed to clear his suddenly-scratchy throat. “Is she—?”

Kent nodded. “Yeah. Ariana Zeta Villanueva.”

Jack frowned. “Like Catherine Zeta-Jones?”

“What?” Kent laughed, shaking his head. “No, dumbass. Like the Spanish letter Z. Zeta.”

“Oh.”

Kent sighed and nudged Jack under the table. “Relax. She doesn’t know anything about you. She knows that Jeff isn’t her birth father, but I’ve been able to dodge most of her questions with vague enough answers these last few years. She’s pretty content with what she knows now.”

Jack seemed to be at a loss for words, sipping on his drink and thinking loudly.

“You don’t have to do anything with this, Zimms.”

“Why did you kiss me, Kenny? At the party.”

Kent’s eyebrows shot up. That wasn’t where he thought this conversation was going. “I mean, I thought that was kind of obvious? Why do you usually kiss people?”

“But you’re married and you have two kids. And you seem pretty happy. So was that...a nostalgic kiss?”

“No. Not entirely, anyway.” Kent sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Clearly you don’t feel the same way about me, though, so what does it matter?”

“It matters because I don’t like being party to _cheating_ , Parse.”

“Cheating?” Kent’s eyes widened and he clapped his hand over his face. “Oh my god, I forgot you didn’t know.”

“Know what?”

“I wrote it in the letter, but I didn’t actually _give_ it to you.” Kent chuckled. “God. So, me and Jeff? Are polyamorous.”

“Okay…”

“Do you know what that means?”

“I think I’ve heard it before, but no.”

“So, for us it means we both date other people.”

“Like...swingers?”

“More like, sometimes one or both of us has another partner that we’re with.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. So me kissing you was something Jeff and I already talked about, because I knew it was a likely possibility and I wanted to make sure he was okay with it.”

“And he was?”

“Well yeah. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”

“I see.”

“But it’s fine, Zimms. I know you’re not interested and I won’t do it again, okay?”

“That’s—I’m not.” He sighed. “I mean, I’m not _not interested_.”

What.

“Uh.” Kent paused mid-drink, the liquid flowing a little too quickly and causing him to choke. He set the cup down and coughed into a napkin, gasping for air.

 _“Crisse,_ Kenny, don’t hurt yourself.”

Kent choked on a laugh. “Fuck you, Zimms.” He took a sip of water from his water bottle and caught his breath. “Sorry. God.”

Jack was smiling. “It’s okay. I, euh...didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Yeah, well. Good try.”

“It seemed like an important distinction to make, though.”

“No shit.” Kent rubbed at his eyes, a little wet from the coughing fit. He couldn’t keep himself from smiling. “So, you...aren’t not interested?”

“No, I’m not. I’ve never been not interested.”

Kent closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. “Shit.”

“I’m—I think we should probably have some conversations about...stuff. First.”

“Yeah.” Kent stared at Jack in wonder. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. But...really? You’re sure about this?”

He sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly. “Definitely.”

“God.” Kent’s eyes were watering again.

“Kenny?” Jack reached across the table and gripped his arm. “You okay?”

“I just thought...I figured I didn’t really have a chance after everything.”

Jack stood abruptly from his seat and walked around the table, pulling Kent up and into his arms. Kent hugged him tightly, his face buried in Jack’s familiar chest. Jack rubbed his back while Kent sobbed quietly into his shirt. They were in the back corner, so he didn’t worry too much about causing a scene.

“Zimms,” he whispered, holding him tighter.

“Kenny,” Jack responded.

It felt like coming home to a place he hadn’t seen in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TRANSLATIONS**  
>  **Most used:**  
>  ** _Tía:_** Aunt/Auntie  
>  ** _Papi:_** Daddy  
>  ** _mijo:_** my son (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _mija:_** my daughter (like "kiddo")  
>  **Phrases:**  
>  ** _¿Bueno?:_** Hello?  
>  ** _¿Qué pasó?:_** What happened?  
>  ** _Te quiero:_** I love you  
>  ** _¡Ayyyy sí, Papi, estoy lista!:_** Ughhh yes, Daddy, I'm ready!  
>  ** _¿Y en español?:_** And in Spanish?  
>  ** _¡Catorce!:_** Fourteen!  
>  ** _¡Muy bien!:_** Very good!  
>  ** _¡Sí!:_** Yes!  
>  ** _mi amor:_** my love  
>  ** _Ariana, mi corazón. Vamos a descansar.:_** Ariana, my heart. Let's rest.  
>  ** _¿Quieres ver La princesa y el sapo?:_** Do you want to watch The Princess and the Frog?  
>  ** _Sí, porfa.:_** Yes, please.  
>  ** _Crisse:_** Christ (Québécois profanity)


	2. All You Think of Lately

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Chapter Tags:  
> -boys in love <3  
> -oral and penetrative sex  
> -gender fluidity (he/they pronouns)  
> -polyamory negotiations  
> -accidental outing to a close friend  
> -brief disagreement on gender terminology (they're cool, don't worry)

**Kent**  
_don’t be a dumbass, zimms. liv loves you._

 **Jack**  
_She didn’t seem to be too happy to see me._  
_And she was always protective of you, Kenny._  
_I think she probably hates me._

 **Kent**  
_she does not  
...i’ll talk to her_

 **Jack**  
_You don’t have to do that. It’s okay.  
I’ll just have to earn her trust back._

 **Kent**  
_well she doesn’t matter  
i’m the one that matters, and i trust you completely_

 **Jack**  
_Really?  
You probably shouldn’t. I didn’t exactly treat you well over the last five years._

 **Kent**  
_you don’t get to decide who I trust, jack_

 **Jack**  
_Right. Sorry._

 **Kent**  
_we have some shit to work through, but that doesn’t change anything  
i love you so much, zimms. i always have._

 **Jack**  
_I know, Kenny. I love you, too.  
Really._

 **Kent**  
_good <3_

* * *

 

“You look amazing, Kenny.” Jack leaned forward and kissed their cheek. “I like your skirt.”

“Thanks, babe.” Kent squeezed Jack's hand and took a seat next to him in the rounded booth. “You look really nice, too.” They reached out and touched the tie Jack was wearing. “I gave you this in the Q.”

“You did.” Jack smiled. “It’s my favorite one.”

Kent blushed and looked down at their menu. “You getting pasta?”

“Yeah, I think so. They have some really good basil linguine that I usually get with alfredo sauce.”

“Sounds fantastic.” Kent turned the page. “I’m thinking about ravioli.”

“It’s good here.” Jack closed his menu and wrapped an arm around them, squeezing their shoulder fondly. “I’m glad we get to do this.”

Kent closed their menu, too, and leaned into Jack’s side. “Me, too, Zimms.”

The food was just as good as Jack had said it would be. They declined dessert and Kent took an order of spaghetti home for Jeff and Liv. They pulled out their card to pay, but Jack beat them to it and handed his own card to the waiter with a smile.

“Jack! I ordered extra food to take home, you don’t need to—”

“Let me.” Jack kissed their cheek. “I don’t mind.”

Kent blushed. “Oh, fine.” They leaned in and kissed Jack’s cheek. “You know I’m a literal millionaire, though, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I just like doing things for you.”

Kent melted a little. “Well I suppose it’s okay, then.”

They walked out of the restaurant hand-in-hand. Jack led them to a little bench that was out of the way and they took a seat, legs pressed close. Jack wrapped his arm around their shoulders again and pulled them in, dipping down to press a sweet kiss to their lips. Kent hummed against him, moving their hand to touch his cheek and then sliding it back into his hair.

“Kenny,” Jack whispered against their lips.

“Zimms,” Kent whispered back.

Jack kissed them again, more hungrily this time, and they pulled him as close as they could, arms holding him tight. The air was crisp and the night was bright, the feeling of being _alive_ flowing through Kent’s veins. Jack dropped an arm to their waist, his fingers dipping into a cutout at their side. Kent shivered at the touch.

They broke for air with bright eyes and hungry looks.

“My place is full of children,” Kent whispered.

“I have a hotel room.”

Kent kissed him again. “Thank fuck.”

They drove both of their cars to the hotel, giving Kent a moment to call their husband.

“Hey babe. How was the date?”

Kent grinned. “Oh, you know. It’s still going.”

Jeff chuckled. Kent could hear _Tangled_ playing in the background.

“Jeffrey Troy, what is our daughter doing still up?”

Jeff laughed. “Ah, she missed you so we decided to make it a slumber party night. She’s passed out on the couch, but me and your sister are still watching the movie.”

Kent rolled their eyes. “Of course you are.”

“So. Things are going well, huh?”

“Yeah.” Kent smiled and blushed a little. “We’re going back to his hotel room.”

“That’s great, babe.” They could hear Jeff smiling. “Should we expect you back tonight?”

“Uh. I’m not sure. I’ll text and let you know?”

“Okay. Be safe!”

“Yeah, I will.”

“Use protection. And lots of lube.”

“Oh my god, you asshole.”

“Not my asshole tonight, babe.”

Kent snorted so loudly they nearly choked. “Oh my god, fuck you.”

“Not to—”

“Stop! Oh my god!” Kent was laughing too hard to focus. “I love you, _cariño_.”

“I love you, too, babe.”

“You’ll be okay without me?” Kent asked.

“We’re fine, sweetheart. Go have fun. And text me when you know if you’re staying the night.”

“Okay. Talk to you later.”

“Bye, baby.”

Jack was already up in the hotel room by the time Kent got there. Jack answered the door in a bathrobe with a rose between his teeth.

“Oh, Jesus. I’m only attracted to dorks, aren’t I?”

Jack laughed and pulled them in, tossing the rose on a shelf and hanging the Do Not Disturb sign on the door handle before pushing it shut. “Apparently. I mean, I don’t know Troy very well, but you always did fall for the dorky ones.”

“Oh, shut up.” Kent shoved at Jack’s shoulder and Jack caught their hand, pulling it up to press a kiss to the palm. “Oh.”

“Hi.” Jack tugged them into him, his hands going to frame their face. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Kent slid their hands into Jack’s robe and rested them on his waist. “Me too.” They leaned up to kiss him eagerly, arms sliding around him completely. Jack’s hand slid to the back of their head and Kent sighed happily into the kiss.

“We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want—”

“Jack.” Kent slid their hands down to squeeze Jack’s ass. “Trust me, I want.”

Jack smiled shyly. “Me too.”

They walked in tandem back to the giant bed and Jack flipped them around so he could push Kent onto their back and crawl on top of them. Kent huffed out a breath, smiling widely.

“You always did like to be in control,” Kent murmured, sliding their hands up Jack’s chest and over his shoulders, pushing the robe down his arms.

Jack hummed and leaned down to kiss Kent’s neck.

Kent groaned. “Fuck. Jack.”

Jack sucked at their throat, his teeth grazing over the skin, and Kent gasped. “Zimms, oh!” They leaned their head to the side, creating more space for Jack to work with.

“God, Kenny, you feel so good,” Jack murmured into their skin. “Wanna lick you all over.”

“Fuck,” Kent breathed. They pushed Jack up just enough to pull their shirt over their head and toss it off the bed.

“Oh,” Jack stared down at the scars on their chest. “You got it.”

“Yeah.” Kent grinned. “After Ari was born. Liv helped me save up for it.”

“Can I—?” Jack’s hand hovered over them.

Kent nodded and licked their lips. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

His hand smoothed gently over the scars, eyes lit up in awe. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the scar on the right and Kent felt warm all over. Then he kissed the other side, too, and Kent thought they might cry a little.

“You, uh—you like?” Kent asked.

Jack’s head shot up, a small smile on his face. “Yeah, Kenny. Of course.” He pressed a trail of kisses up Kent’s chest and then landed on their lips. “You’re gorgeous.”

“Fuck.” A few tears slipped out and Kent brushed them away quickly. “I love you so much, Zimms.”

Jack kissed them again. “I love you too, _mon coeur_.”

Kent melted under his kisses, sighing and humming and then gasping when Jack pressed his tongue to their nipple, shivering at the sensitivity.

“Kenny,” Jack whispered, working on their other nipple now. “Can I go down on you?”

“Oh god, yes,” Kent moaned. “Please. Fuck.”

Jack sucked Kent’s nipple hard and then kissed down their stomach to lick under the elastic of their skirt. “You want this off?” he whispered.

 _“Ayyy_ , fuck, please.”

Jack slid his fingers along the waistline for a moment, tickling Kent’s skin, then tugged the skirt down their legs and tossed it toward a chair. He leaned back down and pressed his lips to the fabric of Kent’s briefs, nosing at their slit. Kent groaned and sank their hands into Jack’s hair.

“God, yeah. You were always so good at this, Zimms.”

Jack hummed and pressed his tongue against the fabric, moving up to find their dick.

“Zimms, yes, fuck.”

Jack sucked at them through their briefs, his eyes flicking up to meet Kent’s. Jack grinned.

“Fuck _._ ”

He pulled back and tugged at the waistband of their briefs. Kent nodded and lifted their hips so Jack could pull the underwear off, leaving them completely naked underneath him.

“Lube,” Kent said, breath heavy.

“I don’t need—”

 _“I_ do, dumbass.” Kent nudged his shoulder with their knee to soften the word. “It’s in my bag. Grab a condom while you’re there, too.”

Jack leaned down and pressed a kiss to their mound. “Look who likes being in charge now.”

Kent grinned. “I’m a bossy bottom. Now go!”

Jack shook his head, laughing, and grabbed Kent’s small bag. He dug through and found the lube and grabbed a few condoms before coming back to the bed. “Your highness,” he said, winking.

“That’s right.” Kent grabbed the lube and squirted some onto their fingers, reaching down to get themself nice and wet. “It’s guava flavored. All-natural.”

Jack leaned down and licked a stripe up their slit. He hummed and nodded while Kent clung to the bedsheets. “Tastes good.”

Before Kent could say anything else, Jack pulled their legs over his shoulders and buried his face in their slit. Kent moaned and whimpered and squeezed their legs around Jack’s head, watching in fascination as everything but his hair disappeared from their line of vision.

“Jack, yes. Oh god, that’s so good.” Kent stretched their arms over their head and gripped at the pillows behind them. “Fuck yeah.”

Jack’s tongue dipped lower, pushing gently into them, and Kent gasped. His face was more or less buried in them, his tongue fucking into their hole while his nose nudged against their dick. They gasped again at the almost over-stimulating pleasure. Jack slid his hands down their thighs and under their ass, using his new grip to push their hips up and into his eager face.

“Jack, Jack, Jack,” Kent panted, arching their back and groaning loudly. _“Zimms,_ _Dios, sí. Sí, dámelo, ayyy.”_

Jack brought one hand up to press a finger into Kent’s hole. He moved his tongue back up to their cock and hummed around them while he pushed his finger in deeper.

“More lube,” Kent said, and Jack squeezed the bottle directly onto his finger, turning it and moving it in and out again to get the lube to spread. Kent groaned and whispered, “Yeah, _sí, más. Dame más._ More.”

Jack took a minute to finger Kent, turning his hand up and pulling his finger in a beckoning motion. Kent gasped as Jack pressed against their pubic bone.

“Ahhh fuck, Jack, fuck!” Kent threw an arm over their face. “Where did you learn that?”

Jack laughed and slowly added a second finger, going back to pumping in and out. “I’ve had a few partners in college. My friend Lardo taught me that one.”

“Well they did a great job,” Kent said, voice breathy as Jack leaned down to take them back into his mouth. “Oh my god, Zimms, yeah. Like that.” They gripped his hair and urged him down. _Dios, sí._ Oh fuck.”

Jack kept up a steady rhythm, fucking his fingers into Kent and licking their dick. Kent moaned and squirmed and after another moment their legs went taut around Jacks head and they let out a loud keening sound, their body shaking through their orgasm. Jack kept fucking them slowly as they came down from it, grinning up at them.

“Good?” he asked.

“Fuck yeah.”

“You want me to keep going?”

Kent bit their lip and looked down at him smoothly pumping his fingers back in. “Will you fuck me?”

“God, yes.” Jack grabbed the lube and squirted another glob onto his fingers, working a third in.

Kent huffed, letting their legs fall open. “I’m ready, babe. Come on.”

He pulled his fingers out gently and grabbed a condom, tugging the package open and then sliding it down his hard cock. Kent slowly rubbed themself while Jack poured lube into his palm and stroked it onto the condom.

“You look good,” Kent said, voice rough.

 _“Crisse.”_ Jack lined up his cock. “Ready?”

Kent pulled him down for a kiss, smiling softly. “Yeah.”

Jack hovered over them, his own expression gentle, and pushed in slowly.

“God, I missed this,” Kent whispered, their eyes closing. “You feel amazing, Zimms.”

Jack slid in to the base and pressed a kiss to Kent’s forehead. “What do you want, baby?”

“You,” Kent murmured back.

Jack smiled. “You want me to take it slow?”

“Yeah.” Kent weaved their fingers into Jack’s hair and leaned up to breathe into his ear, “Make love to me, Zimms.”

Jack licked his lips, nodding. “Yeah. Yeah, of course, Kenny.”

He took it slow, dragging himself in and out, rocking in a gentle rhythm. He nuzzled his cheek against Kent’s neck and pressed a hot, wet kiss to their shoulder. Kent shuddered underneath him. On the next thrust Jack sucked on a spot closer to their throat, working the skin with his lips and his teeth while Kent keened. Jack licked a gentle stripe over the red spot and worked it a little more, all the while thrusting deep and hard.

 _“Ayy sí,_ yes. Zimms.” Kent keened, holding Jack’s hair and pushing him into their neck. Their voice was rough and deep. “ _Dios,_ babe, you’re so good. Fuck.”

Jack sped up his thrusts just enough to make Kent cry out, reaching down to rub their cock while they moaned and whimpered. Kent held on tighter, meeting Jack’s thrusts with their own.

“I’m close,” Jack whispered into their ear.

“Yeah. Yeah, fuck, Zimms. Come.”

Jack moaned and picked up the pace, fucking them over and over until he tipped over the edge with a shout. After a moment he pulled out and collapsed to the side, leg resting over Kent’s while his fingers worked their dick, and he panted into their ear, “Come for me, baby. Come for me, show me how much you love it, come on.”

Kent whined and clenched their legs together, their eyes shut tight as they chanted, _“¡Ayy, sí, sí, porfa, sí!”_ and came for a second time.

Jack groaned, pulled his condom off, and disposed of it in the trash can under the nearby desk. He collapsed back onto Kent, throwing his arm over their chest and resting his head on their shoulder. Kent turned and pressed a kiss to Jack’s head, smiling softly.

“Well. That was even better than I remembered it.”

Jack laughed and pinched their side. “It was pretty good back then, too!”

“Well sure, but _damn_ you learned a lot in college.”

“And clearly the married polyamorous life has been treating you well.”

Kent turned their head and touched Jack’s cheek, kissing him gently. “It’s never been better.”

* * *

Every day Kent thought he wouldn’t hear from Jack and every day he was proven wrong.

It was a lot to take in.

They had talked some things out, sure. Kent apologized for the things he said to try and make Jack angry. Jack apologized for pushing Kent away. They mostly avoided talking about Jack’s overdose, but Kent figured that was understandable—they couldn’t hash everything out in one go.

“Have you thought about bringing it up?” Martha asked when he told her.

“Yeah. I think it’s probably gonna have to be me. I just—I don’t want to spring it on him, you know?”

Martha nodded. “Is there a way you could prepare him for it?”

“Huh.” Kent furrowed his brow. “I guess I could do something like that. Like...text him first or something?”

“That’s definitely one option. How much notice would you like to give him?”

“Uh, I don’t know. I don’t want to build up his anxiety or anything.”

“Maybe you can find a way to give him control over when the conversation happens?”

Kent sipped his tea. “Okay. Like, ‘Hey, Zimms, I want to talk about the draft some time. When would work best for you?’”

“Or even, ‘Let me know when you are ready.’”

“Oh, yeah, that’s good. I like that.” Kent blew out a breath. “I think that could work.”

“Good.”

* * *

“Papi!” Ariana ran into the room and jumped on his lap, knocking the wind right out of him. “Can I get fairy wings like Princess?”

Princess followed her into the room, her rainbow wings shedding glitter all over the carpet. “My daddy got them for my birthday!”

Kent laughed and tickled Ari lightly. _“¿Eres una hada, Señorita Villanueva?”_

_“¡Sí! ¡Y necesito alas!”_

_“¡Alas!”_ Princess cried, wiggling her wings.

“Okay, okay. When Daddy gets home we’ll talk to him about getting some wings.”

Vicente screeched from his playpen, banging on the side with a huge smile.

“Vinny needs wings, too, Papi!” Ariana ran to the playpen and pressed her face against the mesh, giggling as her little brother patted her cheek.

“I suppose that’s only fair, isn’t it?”

“I’m hungry!” Princess flopped onto the couch next to him. “Can we have lunch now, Uncle Kent?”

Kent smiled and tweaked one of her wings. “Soon, kiddo. Tía is bringing back kids meals.”

Both girls cried, “Yaaaaaay!” and jumped up to give each other hugs. They dragged each other onto the floor and then hopped up to run around the couch a few times. Kent shared a look with Vicente, shaking his head at their antics, and then they stopped when they heard the garage door open.

“Tía!” they cried, running for the laundry room to greet her.

Kent lifted Vinny out of his playpen and headed for the table, getting him all set up in his high chair. Liv came in with the girls running around her, depositing the food on the table.

“All right, kids, you know the rule! Where do we have to be before we get to eat?”

“Sitting in our seats!” they both cried.

They climbed up the chairs and into their booster seats while Liv pulled their nuggets and fries out of the kids meal boxes.

“Apple juice for Señorita Princess—” she stuck the straw into the juice box and slid it onto her placemat “—and milk for Señorita Ariana!” She twisted the cap open, pulled off the foil, and slid the milk onto Ari’s placemat.

Kent pulled apart a few fries and laid them out to cool before filling a sippy cup with pedialyte and handing it to Vinny. Once the fries were ready he laid them out on the baby’s tray and kept an eye on him while preparing his cereal.

Just as he was mixing in the mashed up avocado, Kent’s phone chirped with Jack’s text tone.

He smiled.

 **Jack**  
_[photo of a goose mid-honk, it’s wings extended, a small pond in the background]  
Why is everyone so scared of these guys?_

 **Kent**  
_because they’re terrifying zimms_  
_they will literally attack you_  
_wtf are you doing so close to that one???_

 **Jack**  
_It’s not attacking me. It’s just standing there honking at me._

 **Kent**  
_PRETTY SURE THAT’S A WARNING HONK, BABE_

 **Jack**  
_Nah, they’re always fine with me. I’m doing a whole series of geese photos for my class._

 **Kent**  
_you’re going to die._  
_you are literally going to be killed by geese._  
_what are the falcs supposed to do if you die???_

 **Jack**  
_I haven’t signed with anyone yet, Kenny._

 **Kent**  
_right._  
_but we all know you’re gonna sign with the falcs_  
_one does not just turn down georgia martin  
__she gets what she wants_

 **Jack**  
_Haha.  
_ _I suppose that’s true._

 **Kent**  
_you have any free time this weekend? maybe we could do something?_

 **Jack  
** _I wish I could, but I have to work on this food project with Bittle._

 **Kent**  
_ahhh, yes, the famous bittle  
__how’re things going with him? ;)_

 **Jack**  
_I have no idea what you’re talking about, Kenny._

 **Kent  
** _come on, jack. you know you want a sweet little southern boyfriend to bake you pies._

 **Jack**  
_I already have a boyfriend._

 **Kent  
** _awwww, jack, did you just call me your boyfriend?_

 **Jack**  
_[...]_

“Shit,” Kent muttered to himself. He passed the bowl and spoon over to Liv. “Can you take over for a minute?”

“Sure,” she said, pulling out the chair next to Vinny. “Everything okay?”

“It’s fine, I just...have to deal with this now, I think.”

Before he could do anything else, his phone lit up with an incoming call from Jack.

“Hey, babe,” Kent said, walking briskly towards the bedroom.

“Kenny.”

“I was just teasing, okay?” Kent closed the door behind him.

“But we never really said it, did we?” Jack’s voice was normal and steady, which was definitely reassuring.

“No. We didn’t.”

Jack hummed.

“We don’t have to—”

“Kenny?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you be my boyfriend?”

Kent dropped onto the bed, his eyes closed and a smile on his face. “Yeah, Zimms. I’ll be your boyfriend.”

“Good,” Jack whispered.

Kent let out a shaky breath and wiped at his eyes. “Thanks, Zimms. I...guess I didn’t realize how much I wanted to hear that.”

“Me too. Kenny?”

“Yeah?”

“I miss you.”

Kent laughed, surprised. “I miss you too, Zimms. When can I see you next?”

“Well I really do have to work on that project this weekend, but...you could come up here if you want?”

“Oh.”

“I mean, it’s okay if you can’t, I know you have kids and a husband and—”

“I am totally coming up there.”

“Really?”

“Hell yeah. Jeff will be fine and it’s Carrie’s turn to watch the kids while the guys are at practice on Saturday.” Kent licked his lips. “I really want to see you.”

“Me, too.”

“Then I’ll be there. I’ll drive up on Friday, yeah?”

“Yeah. I can’t wait.”

“Me neither.”

“Love you, Kenny.”

“Love you too, Zimms.”

* * *

 

The drive to Samwell was quick and uneventful, which meant that Kent made it to the Haus before Jack did. He considered sitting in his car until Jack showed up, but one of the guys—Shitty—found him and dragged him inside.

“You’ve gotta try this pie, Parse, it’s fucking insane!”

Kent laughed and followed him into the kitchen, where they were greeted by Jack’s winger, Bittle. Kent grinned at him and held out a hand. “Good to see you, man.”

Bittle seemed a little frosty, but he shook hands and offered Kent a slice of pie, so he didn’t read too much into it.

When Jack arrived fifteen minutes later, Kent was surrounded by hockey bros telling them about the time 16 year old Jack kicked a zamboni operator.

“I did not kick him! He got in the way of my foot.”

Kent turned in his seat and shot Jack a big smile. “Zimms!”

“Hey, Kenny.”

He didn’t run to Jack and kiss him like he wanted to—he just winked and said, “Didja miss me?”

Jack stood behind his chair and ruffled his hair. “I guess so.” He looked at the others. “Don’t believe a word he says—he’s full of shit and trying to show off.”

Kent rolled his eyes and gave the group a meaningful look. “Sounds like somebody is protesting a bit too much.”

Jack laughed and shoved at his head. “Oh, fuck you, Parse.”

They spent the afternoon hanging out with the team. Kent kicked ass at Mario Kart and then died spectacularly each round of Smash. Jack worked with Bittle in the kitchen, and by the time he was ready to head to bed Kent was done with losing. They laughed and shoved each other all the way up the stairs and then as soon as Jack closed and locked his bedroom door, Kent kissed him.

“Kenny,” Jack whispered, wrapping him up in his large arms. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” Kent said into his lips, pressing closer and feeling the warmth of Jack surrounding him. “Take me to bed, Zimms.”

Jack complied.

He slept in the next morning while Jack did his early morning workout. The bed was pretty small, but Kent was used to having his space invaded while he was asleep, so it wasn't a problem. When Jack got back he showered in his shared bathroom and then crawled back under the covers with Kent.

“Good run?” Kent asked.

Jack grunted. “Had to get up early for checking practice with Bittle. He’s mad that I made him do it even though I had company.”

“He has a point, Zimms.” Kent nudged him in the ribs. “Besides, the season has been over for weeks.”

“Training doesn’t stop just because it’s the off season, Kenny.”

Kent rolled his eyes and snuggled into Jack’s arms. “Let’s go back to sleep.”

Jack let out a long-suffering sigh, pulling Kent in and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “Oh, fine.”

They woke up the second time to Shitty banging on the bathroom door. “Jack-o! Lunch is served!”

“Fuck off, Shits!” Jack called back, rolling away to yell toward the door.

“Lardo said they want to meet your boy!”

Jack’s eyes widened and he jumped from the bed, yanking the door open and pulling Shitty inside.

“Morning, sunshine,” Shitty said, smirking.

“What the fuck, Shits?” Jack scowled at him. “You wanna yell that shit a little louder?”

Shitty’s face fell, his mouth turning down in a frown. “What? What shit?”

Kent swung his legs over the side of the bed and calmly stood to join them. “I think he means the ‘your boy’ thing.”

“What—” he looked around the room “—where did you sleep, Jack?”

Jack didn’t say anything. Kent met Shitty’s gaze with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh shit,” Shitty whispered. His eyes flicked between Jack and Kent, recognition dawning. “Oh shit. Jack. Brah, I’m so sorry. I was just—I didn’t mean that he was _your boy_. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I just didn’t know! God, I shouldn’t have fucking assumed, oh shit. How fucking heteronormative can I be?”

“Dude, you need to chill out. And so do you, Jack.” Kent laid a hand on his arm. “He’s right, the way he said it just sounded like ‘your buddy’ or something. Nobody’s gonna think twice about it.”

Shitty looked absolutely crushed. “Jack, man. I’m so fucking sorry. For so many things, oh my god.”

Jack sighed and let his arms fall to his side. “It’s fine, Shits. Just be more careful about what you say, okay?”

“Of course, brah. I’m gonna do some hardcore reflecting tonight, don’t you worry.”

Kent smiled at him. “Did you say something about lunch?”

“Oh, yeah! One of the frogs bought lunch for the whole Haus, so everyone’s downstairs chowing down on pizza. And Lardo really wants to meet you, Parse.”

“Lardo, huh?” Kent shot Jack a wicked grin. “I definitely want to meet this girl.”

Jack narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know if I want you two talking,” he said. “You’re just going to gossip about me, aren’t you?”

“Also? They’re agender, so not a girl. But they’ll definitely want to gossip about Jack.” Shitty grinned. “Come on!”

He led them down to the kitchen and produced a chair for Kent that was right next to Lardo.

“You must be the infamous Kent Parson,” Lardo said, extending their hand.

“Something like that.” Kent grinned and shook it. “And _you_ must be the master teacher Lardo.”

They looked a little bemused. “Master teacher?”

Kent leaned forward and whispered, “You apparently taught Jack some things that I _very much appreciate_.”

“Ah.” They smirked and sent him a wink. “Happy to help out a fellow AFAB.”

Kent balked a little and their smile disappeared. “Shit, sorry dude, I shouldn’t assume—I know some people don’t like that term.”

“Nah, it’s—it’s okay. Thanks.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I mean, you’re right, but I just—yeah, I don’t like that term.”

“Yo, Parse! What’re you waiting for, man? Grab a slice!”

Kent shot Lardo a small smile of forgiveness and piled a few slices of pizza on his plate. “This looks great. Thanks, guys.”

“No prob, bruh!”

The team was a lot of fun. They spent most of lunch getting Kent to tell them stories about teenage Jack in return for stories about college Jack.

Jack spent most of lunch with a pink face.

“Football bros are assholes, man. I’m not surprised he chased them off. We went to a party at some quarterback’s house one time and it was honestly the worst fucking place I’ve ever been.”

“Oh god. Those guys were the worst.” Jack shook his head. “The quarterback challenged our goalie to a wrestling match and got his ass handed to him. We had to leave right after that.”

“Sounds like the LAX bros,” Nursey muttered.

“Ffffffffuck the LAX bros!” Shitty, Ransom, and Holster all shouted.

Kent caught Jack with a genuine smile and he melted a little.

Jack looked happy here.

After lunch Jack took Kent on a walking tour of his favorite parts of campus, including the pond with the geese.

“They’re not gonna hurt you, Kenny,” Jack said, his camera out and a huge smile on his face. “Just don’t bother them and they won’t bother you.”

Kent took another step back. “I just don’t want to get in their space, Zimms!”

The camera clicked and he looked up to find the lens pointing at him. “Hey! Give me that!”

“Sorry, Kenny. Couldn’t help it.” Jack grinned and bumped his shoulder. “I like to capture pretty things.”

“God.” Kent rolled his eyes, but he was definitely blushing. “You’re such a dickbag.”

Jack laughed and nodded toward a tree. “Wanna sit?”

“Yeah.”

They leaned against the tree, legs spread out in front of them and hands touching by their hips. It was a beautiful day with bright sunshine and a few white, fluffy clouds drifting lazily across the sky. The geese were swimming and honking at ducks and there were students all over the place, taking in the fresh air.

“So, uh. I’ve been thinking about something.” Jack was staring at a small thread on his jeans, picking at it carefully.

Kent tilted his head. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Um.” He pinched the thread between his fingers, but it didn’t budge. “It’s okay if you don’t want to. I’m not—I won’t be offended or anything.”

“Okay.”

“But,” he pulled the thread from a different angle. “I just thought, maybe it’s time?”

“You wanna tell me what you’re talking about, Zimms?”

Jack twisted his fingers and tugged, and with a sudden snap the thread came off. “I was thinking that I’d like to meet your family. And, um...your daughter.”

“Oh.” Kent hadn’t allowed himself to hope for this. He knew Jack was busy, and ambitious, and with his general awkwardness he didn’t think—but here he was, asking for it outright.

To meet Kent’s daughter. To meet _his_ daughter.

“Sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Jack.” Kent covered his hand with his own. “Of course I want you to meet her. I would love that.”

“Really?”

Kent couldn’t kiss him, so he settled for squeezing his hand. “Yeah. Really.”

“And...she’ll be okay with it?”

“I think so. I can ask her, though.”

“And Jeff?”

Kent squeezed again. “We already talked about it. He wants her to be able to know as much as she can about herself.”

“He’s not my biggest fan.”

“No, he’s not. But—” Kent nudged him with his shoulder “—he’s coming around. He just needs to get to know you better. And...he’s protective of me. I was in a pretty shitty place when we first met, and a lot of that was about you, so—”

“Yeah, I know. I understand.” Jack let out a heavy breath. “Okay. So I’m going to meet her.”

Kent gave him a broad smile. “You’re going to meet her.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TRANSLATIONS**  
>  **Most used:**  
>  ** _Tía:_** Aunt/Auntie  
>  ** _Papi:_** Daddy  
>  ** _mijo:_** my son (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _mija:_** my daughter (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _cariño:_** sweetheart  
>  **Phrases:**  
>  ** _mon coeur:_** my heart (French)  
>  ** _Ayyy:_** Ohhh  
>  ** _Dios, sí. Sí, dámelo, ayyy.:_** God, yes. Yes, give it to me, ahhh.  
>  ** _Sí, más. Dame más.:_** Yes, more. Give me more.  
>  ** _Dios, sí.:_** God, yes.  
>  ** _Crisse:_** Christ (Québécois profanity)  
>  ** _Ayy sí:_** Ahh, yes.  
>  ** _Dios:_** God  
>  ** _¡Ayy, sí, sí, porfa, sí!:_** Ahh, yes, yes, please, yes!  
>  ** _¿Eres una hada, Señorita Villanueva?:_** Are you a fairy, Miss Villanueva?  
>  ** _¡Sí! ¡Y necesito alas!:_** Yes! And I need wings!  
>  ** _¡Alas!:_** Wings!  
>  ** _Señorita:_** Miss (title)


	3. I Always Had a Vision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Chapter Tags  
> -French!  
> -frank discussion of reproductive body parts from a five-year-old  
> -polyamory negotiations

Ari sank into her blankets and yawned as Kent settled into the chair by her bed. “Is he nice, Papi?”

“Is who nice, angel?”

“My bio man.”

Kent laughed. “You mean your biological father?”

“Yeah, him.” She turned her big eyes on him. “What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Oh, _mija.”_ Kent set the book down and kneeled next to her bed, smoothing back her hair. “He’s nice, yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

Kent smiled down at her. “I’ve known him for a while and he’s always been nice to kids. I really think he's going to like you.”

“And you like me, right Papi?”

“I like you a whole lot, _mi corazón.”_ Kent kissed her forehead and smiled at her.

“I like you too, Papi.”

“Thanks, baby. Do you have any more questions about your bio father?”

She fidgeted a bit, moving to find a more comfortable position, and then frowned, her eyes filling with tears. “Is Daddy not gonna be my father anymore?”

“What?” Kent swiped a tear from her face and cupped her cheek. “No, baby, Daddy is always gonna be your father. He raised you, and that’s what makes him your father. This isn’t going to change that.”

“Okay,” she said, her voice soft and sad. “I don’t want to lose Daddy.”

There was a soft knock on the door and Jeff peeked in. “Everything okay in here?”

Kent gave him a significant look and nodded at their daughter.

“Hey, baby pie,” Jeff said, coming to sit next to her on the bed. “What’s wrong?”

She sniffed. “Will you really always be my father, Daddy?”

“Oh, honey.” He squeezed her leg. “Of course I will. You are my daughter and you always will be.” He leaned over her to kiss her forehead. “I will never, ever stop being your father.”

“Okay.”

Kent wiped a few more tears from her cheeks. “We love you so, so much, _mija._ And it’s okay if you don’t want to meet your bio father. You get to choose.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Kent held up the book. “Do you want Daddy to read you your bedtime story?”

She nodded. Kent handed the book over to Jeff and squeezed his hand. “I’ll let you two have some quality time.”

Jeff nodded his thanks and squeezed Kent’s hand back.

“Good night, _mija.”_ Kent kissed her head and smoothed out her hair again. _“ Te quiero.”_

_“ Te quiero, Papi.”_

He found Liv putting dishes into the dishwasher when he came out of Ari’s bedroom.

“Is she all right?” Liv asked.

“She will be. She just has some questions about meeting Jack next week.”

“That’s fair. It’s gotta be weird for her.”

Kent hummed, leaning against the counter. “Yeah. She asked me if Jeff was still gonna be her father.”

“Oh, shit. That’s rough, _mijo,_ I’m sorry.”

He shrugged and pushed himself off to get a cheese stick from the fridge. “Yeah. I mean, we probably should have expected it, but now we know.”

“I’m sure you handled it just fine.”

Ari’s bedroom door closed and Kent looked up.

“She’s fine,” Jeff said, coming over and wrapping his arm around Kent’s waist.

“Good.” Kent pulled him into a soft kiss. “Are you okay?”

Jeff smiled and then rested his forehead against the side of Kent’s head. “Yeah. I’m good. I know it’s confusing for her, but I think in the end it will be good for her. And, y’know—” he lifted his head back and grinned at Kent “—Jack isn’t the _worst_ person in the world.”

Kent snorted and smacked his ass. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Ugh.” Liv set the dishwasher to run and grabbed her water from the counter. “I’m getting out of here before you two start making out on the counter.”

“That was _one time_ , Liv!”

She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t believe you.”

As soon as she was out of the room, Kent turned to Jeff. “So you wanna make out on the counter?”

Jeff grinned and lifted Kent up and onto the island. “You better believe it.”

* * *

“I got it!” Kent called, heading for the front door.

Ari chased after him. “Me too!”

Jack was on the other side holding a bottle of wine and a small bouquet of flowers. “Oh. Hi.”

Kent shook his head and took Jack’s arm, dragging him inside. “You sounds surprised, Zimms. Were you expecting someone else?”

“Uh, no. Sorry.” He held out the wine. “I brought this for dinner.”

Kent leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, babe.”

“Are you the bio man?” Ariana asked, one hand resting on her cocked hip.

Kent tried to keep a straight face.

“The...bio man?” Jack asked.

“Her biological father,” Kent clarified.

“Oh.” The corner of Jack’s mouth twitched. “Well that depends. Are you Ariana?”

“Yes, I am.”

Jack squatted down to her level. “Then I suppose I’m the bio man.” He held out a hand to her. “I’m Jack. It’s nice to meet you.”

Ari stared him down for a moment and then relented, shaking his hand as forcefully as possible. “Nice to meet you, Jack. _Soy Ariana Zeta Villanueva._ ”

Jack smiled at her. He lifted the bouquet of flowers and held them out to her. _“ Pour toi.”_

 _“ ¿Para mi? ¡Que chido!”_ She took them from him with a grin, using both hands to hold them steady. “What are they for?”

“Sometimes people bring flowers when they’re meeting someone special,” Kent explained.

“Oh. I’m special?”

Jeff came in at that moment and swept her into his arms. “You better believe you are, munchkin!” He turned to Jack, who was standing back up. “Good to see you, Zimmermann.”

“Daddy, he’s not a zipper man. He’s a bio man.”

The adults all laughed.

“All right, _mija,_ why don’t we put these in a vase.” Kent reached out to take the flowers, but she held them close to her chest.

“No! They’re for _me!”_

Jeff sighed. “You can hold them for now, baby, but we’ll need to put them in water soon so they can stay healthy.”

She smushed them tighter against her body.

“We’ll do it later,” Kent said, smiling. He reached out and took Jack’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “Now. Who wants to set the table?”

“Me!” Ariana shouted, squirming to get down from her daddy’s arms.

Liv and Jeff helped her do a one-armed job setting out the plates and silverware while she clung to the bouquet with her other arm.

“You’re doing great,” Kent murmured into Jack’s ear.

Jack smiled. “Thanks. You’ve already done great. She’s amazing.”

Kent kissed his cheek. “Thanks, _cariño._ I think so, too.”

During dinner the adults talked hockey and Jack asked Ari questions about her favorite things. She spent a solid ten minutes talking his ear off about her tool set and how she was building a table for her bedroom.

“So how do you know my Papi?” Ari asked, the subject change no more abrupt than any other point in the conversation.

“Oh. Well, we used to play hockey together.”

“Before I was born.”

“That’s right, _mija.”_ Kent winked at her. “And then my belly got too big for me to see my skates so I took a break.”

She gave Jack a calculating look. “So why did you use your penis to give sperm to Papi's vulva if you didn’t know I was coming?”

Jack choked on a bite of linguine while Kent, Jeff, and Liv all covered their mouths to hide their laughter.

Once Kent caught his breath (and made sure Jack wasn’t dying), he said, “Honey, it’s not polite to ask people about their penises and vulvas.”

Jack coughed.

“Why not?” She frowned. “You let me ask you about it.”

“Well, it’s okay when me or Daddy or Tía are teaching you things. But those parts of our bodies are private, so we need to talk about them privately. Does that make sense?”

“Okay.” She shrugged. “When is it private?”

“When we’re at home or in the car and we don’t have guests around.”

“But I thought Jack was my bio father.”

“Well, he is.”

“So how come he isn’t private?”

Kent looked at Jeff.

“Well, you just met Jack today. Maybe when you get to know him a little better we can ask if we have permission to talk about private things with him.”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

And then she was back to eating her garlic bread.

“So,” Jack said later, when the kids were in bed and the adults were drinking wine in the living room. “That’s what it’s like to have a kid, eh?”

Jeff actually smiled at him. “You get used to it.”

Jack tilted his head, also smiling. “I hope so.”

* * *

Jack came by every week after that. He was in finals mode, getting ready for the end of the year and his graduation, but he always made it to Sunday dinner. His time was well spent—Ariana and Vicente both loved him. He listened patiently to Ari’s explanations, watched a lot of _Bob the Builder_ , and spent hours holding and playing with the baby.

When graduation finally came, Kent and Liv hauled both kids to the ceremony while Jeff sent his regards from the road.

“Kent Parson!” A loud voice boomed across the quad. Kent turned to see Bob and Alicia Zimmermann standing with Georgia Martin.

Kent grinned and waved at them, heading in their direction.

“Look at you!” Alicia pulled him into a hug. “You look so grown up, I can’t believe it.”

“Aw, come on, Maman.” Kent blushed.

“It’s good to see you, son,” Bob said, clapping his back. “Is this your family?”

“Oh, yeah! This is my sister Olivia.” Liv shook their hands. “And these are my kids, Ariana and Vicente. My husband’s on the road today.”

Bob and Alicia said hello to the kids, and Ari took to Bob immediately.

“Are you named after Bob the Builder?”

They all laughed. “Nope, I’m afraid not. I see you’ve got his backpack, though.”

Ari launched into a detailed description of one of the episodes she watched in the car.

“They’re beautiful,” Alicia said, touching Kent’s arm. “You’ve done a great job.”

“Thanks, Maman.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Did, uh—did Jack…?”

“He told us.” She smiled. “About Ariana and about how you two are working things out. We’re really happy for you both.”

He swallowed and nodded. It was still a little overwhelming to earn their approval.

“Come on, we saved you seats.” Alicia ushered them over to their row. “Kent, this is our friend Georgia Martin.”

Kent leaned in and gave her a hug. “Hey George.”

George patted his back. “Hi Kent. We missed you at family skate last time.”

“Oh!” Alicia said, giving them a slightly confused smile. “You know someone on the Falcs, Kent?”

Kent laughed. “Uh, yeah, you could say that.”

“My Daddy is on the Falcs!” Ari cried, leaning over from Bob’s lap. _“ ¡Hola, George!”_

_“ ¡Hola, Ariana!”_

Kent lowered his voice. “Jeffrey Troy,” he explained.

Bob and Alicia both nodded in understanding.

Apparently Jack hadn’t told them who he was married to. That was...actually really thoughtful, not outing Jeff. He and Jeff had just assumed that if Jack told his parents anything, he would tell them everything.

The ceremony started soon after that. Bob kept Ariana amused while Alicia, Liv, and Kent passed the baby between them. (It took Kent a concerted effort to pay attention to the speaker—who had chosen this guy, anyway? Had they known how terrible his public speaking skills were?) When Jack finally walked across the stage, they all cheered and hollered. Ari had two red pom poms that Bob bought her from a booth and she waved them vigorously from Bob’s shoulders.

Jack smiled at them.

After the ceremony ended they let Jack catch up with some of his school friends before dragging him over to their little group. There were hugs all around and Ari somehow ended up in Jack’s arms, wearing his cap. (Alicia took a _lot_ of photos.)

“So." Kent nudged Jack once his arms were free again. "You’re a college graduate now, Zimms. How does it feel?”

“It’s...good.” Jack was smiling. “Really good. I know this wasn’t always my plan, but—I’m glad I got to do this.”

Kent reached up and pulled him into a hug, holding him tight. “I’m so proud of you, babe,” he whispered into Jack’s ear.

Jack flushed and looked down at the diploma holder in his hands. He licked his lips. “Ah—thanks, Kenny. That—that really means a lot to me.”

Kent squeezed his arm, wishing more than anything that he could kiss Jack right here and now. “I love you,” he whispered.

Jack smiled. “I love you, too.”

Kent cleared his throat. “So. You got any plans with the team to celebrate?”

“No. They’re all either gone or leaving soon. I...I’ll drive up to see them before the season starts.”

Drive up to see them from Providence, where Jack would be _living_ , because he signed with the Falconers. Kent smiled at the thought of seeing Jack on a much more regular basis.

“You know.” He let his hand fall to the zip on Jack’s gown, pulling it up and then down again. “If there’s...somebody here that you want to see more of, you should...probably say something to them.”

Jack drew his eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

“Just—” Kent sighed and shook his head, smiling gently “—you know that we’re polyamorous, right?”

Jack snorted. “I mean I kinda figured it out when I came for dinner with you and your husband.”

“Exactly.” Kent laughed. “So, just—I want you to know that you can have other people on your end too, you know?”

Jack was back to looking confused. “Like...dating other people?”

“Yeah.”

He frowned. “O...kay? Thanks, I guess.”

“Oh, babe.” Kent pulled him into another hug, placing a discreet kiss on his ear. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Just—don’t wait too long, okay?”

Jack squeezed him tight. “Okay, Kenny. Whatever you say.”

“Okay.” Kent pulled back and patted Jack’s chest. “Let me know when you make it to town, all right? We’ll take you guys out for dinner.”

“Okay. I’ll text you.”

“Congrats, Zimms. You did great.”

Jack blushed again, the wide smile returning to his face. “Thanks, Kenny.”

* * *

**Jack**  
_You could’ve just told me, you know._

 **Kent**  
_told you what?_

 **Jack**  
_Bittle!_  
_I had no idea what you were talking about._  
_But then Papa said something about REALLY saying goodbye._  
_And I…_

 **Kent  
** _you what?????_

 **Jack**  
_You’re gonna chirp the fuck out of me._

 **Kent**  
_who, me?_  
_never._  
_tell me what you did about bittle!!!!!_

 **Jack**  
_I...ran across campus to the Haus and I found him packing and crying and...I kissed him._

 **Kent**  
_YEAH!!!!!!_  
_THAT’S MY BOY!!!!!!!!_  
_FUCKING FINALLY_  
_god, zimms, sometimes you are SO slow on the uptake smh_

 **Jack**  
_Shut up, Parse._

 **Kent**  
_never.  
__god, you’re right, i’m gonna chirp the FUCK out of you for this_

 **Jack  
** _Yeah, yeah._

 **Kent**  
_you can’t stop smiling right now, can you? :)_

 **Jack**  
_…  
No._

 **Kent**  
_god, i love you  
you’re the cutest, you know that?_

 **Jack**  
_Fuck off :-P_

 **Kent**  
_xoxoxoxxxxx <3 <3 <3_

 **Jack**  
_:-*_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TRANSLATIONS**  
>  **Most used:**  
>  ** _Tía:_** Aunt/Auntie  
>  ** _Papi:_** Daddy  
>  ** _mijo:_** my son (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _mija:_** my daughter (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _cariño:_** sweetheart  
>  **Phrases:**  
>  ** _mi corazón:_** my heart  
>  ** _Te quiero.:_** I love you.  
>  ** _Te quiero, Papi.:_** I love you, Daddy.  
>  ** _Soy Ariana Zeta Villanueva.:_** I am Ariana Zeta Villanueva.  
>  ** _Pour toi. (French):_** For you.  
>  ** _¿Para mi? ¡Que chido!:_** For me? Cool!  
>  ** _¡Hola, George!:_** Hi, George!  
>  ** _¡Hola, Ariana!:_** Hi, Ariana!


	4. Love Will Make Us Worthy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **  
> _Time jump in this chapter!_  
>  **
> 
>  
> 
> Additional Chapter Tags:  
> -lots of family feels  
> -giving Ari 3 amazing dads  
> -gender fluidity (he/they pronouns)  
> -everyone helps at a six-year-old's birthday party  
> -baking!

**-2016-**

“It’s Bitty and Jack!” Ariana ran to Jack the minute they walked in, jumping into his outstretched arms.

Jack swung her around and kissed her forehead. “Hello, _mon ange!_ Happy birthday!”

“I’m six!”

“Yes you are!”

“Now, Miss Ariana, are you sure you’re only six?” Bitty put his hands on his hips. “I thought you were turning twenty-three!”

Ari giggled and shook her head wildly. “No, silly! I’m six! Ask Papi, he remembers!”

“Oh, I definitely remember.” Kent ruffled her hair before kissing Jack’s cheek and tossing a wink at Bitty. “I remember this giant little baby deciding she was going to stay inside me for _three extra days.”_

“I was too comfy, Papi!”

Kent laughed. “That’s right, _mija_. You always liked to be bundled up and cozy, didn’t you?”

“Yeah!”

Bitty held out a pie. “I believe somebody requested chocolate mousse with chocolate whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles?”

Ariana screeched, the nearby adults wincing. “Thank you, Bitty!” She jumped up and down in Jack’s arms until he set her down on the ground and grabbed Bitty's hand.

Bitty smiled. “Should we go put this in the kitchen with the cake from your _tee-uh?”_

Ari dragged Bitty to the kitchen, talking about the _tres leches_ cake that  Tía made for her.

Kent pulled Jack into a hug and held him for a moment. “I can’t believe she’s six.”

Jack chuckled and kissed the top of Kent’s head. “I know. She’s gonna be in first grade next year. That’s like... _real_ school.”

Kent laughed. “And Vinny’s gonna be two next month.” Kent shook his head. “If I’m not careful I might actually get a full night’s sleep one of these days.”

 _“Mon coeur,”_ Jack said, holding him a little closer. “Has it been that bad?”

“Nah. I’m just being dramatic.” Kent smiled at him. “Between me and Liv we can handle it just fine when Jeff’s on the road.”

“Okay. You’ll talk to me if it gets bad, though, right?”

Kent reached up to kiss him lightly. “Of course, _cariño.”_ He patted Jack’s cheek. “Now. You’re on bouncy house duty, so you should probably go talk to the guy who’s setting it up in the backyard.”

Jack laughed and kissed him again. “Yes, dear.”

The other kids started showing up a few hours later, their parents in tow. They ran between the bouncy house with Jack, the coloring area with Tater, the party-game zone (complete with _Pin the Tail on the Donkey_ ) with Jeff, and the highly-supervised building table with Kent, Bitty, and Thirdy.

When it came time to open presents, Jeff took meticulous notes on each one so Ariana could write thank-you notes. She tugged the paper off her most recent gift, a stuffed butterfly from Princess, and then tossed it onto the couch with a very loud “THANK YOU!” toward the Robinsons.

“Okay, sweetpea, this one is next!” Bitty handed her a medium-sized box with a card and a bow.

“Who’s it from?” Kent asked.

Ariana pulled the card out of the envelope and a small piece of paper fluttered out.

“It’s from Jack and Bitty!”

Bitty grabbed the paper from the floor and held it out to her. “Looks like you dropped something.”

She held it up, stared at it for a moment, and then handed it to Bitty. “I can’t read this.”

The adults in the room laughed.

“Here, honey, I’ll read it to you.” Bitty held it out and pointed at the words as he read. “This certificate entitles Miss Ariana Zeta Villanueva to ten personal baking classes.”

“Baking classes!” Ariana perked up. “I get to bake pies like you?”

“Well, sweetie, we’ll do pies and cupcakes and all kinds of fun things.” He tapped the present. “You should probably open this, though.”

She tore the paper open and pulled the lid off a box to find a kid-sized Falcs apron, a set of bowls and mixing supplies, and two construction truck cake pans. “Wow!” She looked up at Bitty with wide, happy eyes. “Thank you, Bitty! I love it!”

“Make sure you go say thank you to Jack, too, now. He’s gonna be taking some of the classes with you.”

Ariana perked up. “Really?” She ran over to Jack and hugged him tight. “We’re gonna have so much fun!”

“Yeah!” Jack held up his hand and she gave him a high-five.

“All right, baby, you’ve got one more!” Jeff called.

Ariana rushed back to her last present, which was a card. She frowned. “There’s no present.”

“Maybe you should open it up and see what it says,” Kent suggested.

She pulled the envelope open and tugged out a notecard.

“Can you read it?” Jeff asked.

“Go. To. You-r. Room.” She looked up at him. “My room? Did I make a bad choice?”

“No, honey! Not at all.” Jeff kissed her head. “I think it means that your present is in your room.”

“Oh!” Ari jumped up and ran to her room.

 _“ ¡Espera en la puerta, Ariana!”_ Kent called, hurrying after her with the rest of the party following him.

Ariana was bouncing on her toes, looking longingly at the door handle. She waited for everyone to catch up then said, _“ ¡Paaaaapi! ¿Puedo entrar? ¿Por favoooor?”_

Kent nodded and she burst in, looking around wildly. It seemed to take her a moment to notice what she was looking at.

“Wow!” she yelled. “Is that mine?”

Jeff walked over to the brand new twin bed in the corner of her room. “It’s all yours, baby.”

The bed was covered in a comforter with a pattern of purple and blue swirls. At the head of the bed there was a purple mesh canopy hanging from the ceiling. All of her stuffed animals were lined up on shelves that matched the comforter, and her favorite stuffed cat was sitting in the center of the pillows at the head.

“It’s purple!” She jumped up onto the bed and squealed. “And blue!”

Kent leaned into Jeff and held his hand. “Do you like it, _mija?”_

“I love it!” She ran to her dads and hugged them tightly. “It’s so big!”

“It’s a big kid bed for our sweet little big kid,” Kent said, smacking a kiss against her cheek.

Ari giggled. “I’m not a _little_ big kid,  Papi! I’m a _big_ big kid!”

“Okay, big big kid.” Jeff leaned down and swooped her into his arms. “Should we go have some dessert?”

“Dessert!” she screeched, and then she was out of Jeff’s arms and back down the hallway, leading her friends to the kitchen.

“Six years old,” Jeff muttered.

“Six years old.” Kent agreed.

* * *

Kent stretched out on the bed, his fingers twining in Jeff’s hair.

“I love the kids, but it’s nice to have the house to ourselves sometimes,” Kent said quietly.

“I know.” Jeff’s voice was just as quiet, keeping the peace of the still moment.

Kent rolled over and draped himself over Jeff’s body, their heated skin pressing together. “That was awesome.”

Jeff chuckled. “Definitely awesome, babe. A-plus sex.”

Kent bit his chest. “No chirping in bed.”

“That has never been the rule.”

Kent’s phone beeped with Jack’s text tone, interrupting their teasing.

“Huh. I better check that. I’m sure if it was an emergency he would call, but—”

“Of course you should check it.” Jeff reached for Kent’s phone and pressed his thumb to the sensor, the screen coming to life.

 **Jack**  
_I know you’re probably still at the movies, but...Ari just asked me why I’m not her dad. So we probably need to talk with her tomorrow._

“Uh.” Kent looked at Jeff. “I was not expecting that.”

“Me neither.” Jeff frowned. “I guess we’re not gonna know what to expect with something like this. It’s all pretty new.” He squeezed Kent’s hand and nodded at the phone. “Ask if she’s okay, yeah?”

 **Kent**  
_changed our mind and stayed in  
is she okay?_

 **Jack**  
_Yeah, she’s fine. I told her that I’ll always be her bio dad no matter what and that we could talk about it with you guys tomorrow.  
I just...don’t want to cross any lines._

Kent frowned and exchanged a look with Jeff, who nodded, kissed Kent’s cheek, and rolled off the bed, heading for the bathroom.

 **Kent**  
_babe <3_  
_we can definitely talk about it tomorrow, but i promise you’re not crossing any lines.  
since the day she was born i have wanted her to have you as a dad_

 **Jack**  
_Oh._

 **Kent**  
_and babe, jeff knows how much you love her too and i don’t think he’d have a problem with ari thinking of you as her dad_

 **Jack**  
_You’re sure?_

 **Kent**  
_yeah. but i'll talk to him about it tonight, too_

 **Jack**  
_Okay. Thanks, Kenny.  
<3_

 **Kent**  
_go watch some sports highlights, zimms_  
_i’ll see you in the morning_  
_xoxoxxx <3_

Jack and the kids were out for breakfast when Kent and Jeff made it to their apartment the next morning.

“Do y’all want some coffee?” Bitty asked, yawning as he poured himself a mug.

“Yes, please.” Kent went to the cupboard and grabbed two more mugs, holding them out for Bitty to pour. “God, I did _not_ get enough sleep last night.”

“Is that so?” Bitty smirked at him and then raised an eyebrow at Jeff. “You keep this boy up all night, Mr. Troy?”

Jeff looked smug. “I did my best.”

“He did _amazing_ ,” Kent whispered, winking at Bitty.

“Well, I’m glad we could give you boys a night in. Lord knows y’all need a little break sometimes.”

“We appreciate it, Bitty.” Jeff raised his mug in salute and then gulped it down.

They sat in the living room and chatted a bit about their nights until the front door opened and Ariana burst in, Jack and Vinny close behind her.

“Daddy!” Ari ran to Jeff and jumped into his lap.

“Papi!” Vinny cried, squirming until Jack set him down and then running over to Kent.

Kent crouched down and held his arms out. He caught Vinny with an exaggerated shout and toppled over backwards, both of them giggling.

“Look what I colored!” Ari waved a piece of paper in Jeff’s face—an orange and green castle with purple knights on horses. “I made this one into a princess,” she said, pointing to one of the knights that had a yellow crown on its head.

“It looks great, baby. Do you want to put it on the fridge when we get home?”

“Yeah!”

Kent smiled at Jack. “Thanks for taking them. Did you guys have fun?”

“We all got pancakes with smiley faces, so I’d call it a success,” Jack said, smirking.

Bitty raised an eyebrow. “You know, those don’t have much protein, Mr. Zimmermann.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Bittle.” Jack grinned and ruffled Bitty’s hair. “I ordered a giant side of eggs, too.”

They tussled for a minute, laughing and pushing each other around until Ari showed up next to them and shouted, “Excuse me!”

Jack held Bitty in a headlock and smiled down at her. “Can we help you?”

“You’re supposed to play nice!” she said, hands on her hips.

Kent did his best to cover his laugh while Jack let Bitty go and they both straightened up, smiling sheepishly.

“Sorry about that, honey.” Bitty straightened out his shirt. “Sometimes we like to wrestle a bit.”

Jeff snorted from the couch.

“You can just hush, Mr. Troy. I’m sure y’all did plenty of wrestling last night.”

“He’s not wrong,” Kent said, grinning.

“Hello! Can you _please_ pay attention to _me_ now?”

They all schooled their faces, looking seriously at Ariana.

 _“Thank_ you.” She grabbed Jack and Bitty’s hands and pulled them into the living room, depositing them on the loveseat. “Now.” She put her hands back on her hips and gave Jack a stern look. “You said we could talk to Daddy and  Papi about you being my dad today.”

Kent sat up a little straighter, wanting his daughter to know that he took her seriously.

“That’s right, _mon ange,_ I did say that.” Jack glanced up at Kent and then focused on Ariana. “Where would you like to start?”

Ari turned to Kent and Jeff. “Daddy. Papi. Bio dad said that he doesn’t want to smash your toes.”

Bitty clapped a hand to his mouth to suppress his giggles.

“Which means he wants to respect you,” she continued.

Kent and Jeff exchanged looks and nodded seriously at her.

“Ari,” Kent said, holding out a hand to her.

She took it immediately.

“Your Daddy and I raised you, and we love you a lot, and we will both always be your parents. If you want to think of Jack as your dad, too, that’s okay with us.”

Ari turned to look at Jeff, her eyes questioning.

Jeff reached out and pulled her into a hug. “Baby, I love you more than anything. And even though I wasn’t there for the very first part of your life, you are mine and I will _always_ love you.” He kissed her head and pulled her back to look her in the eye. “And it’s okay with me if you want to have three dads instead of just two.”

She smiled and hugged him again.

Jack squeezed Bitty’s hand, his throat too thick for words. Ariana crossed back over to him and stood between his knees, looking at him with a smile. “See! I didn’t smash anybody’s toes!”

Jack laughed. “You’re an excellent diplomat, Ariana.”

“So? Can you be my dad now?”

“I—” Jack cleared his throat and looked at Kent again. Kent nodded. “Of course, _mon ange._ I’d be happy to be your dad.”

“Yay!” She jumped up and down for a minute and then threw herself into Jack’s arms, laughing.

Jack blinked in rapid succession and hugged her close.

“Wait!” Ari pulled back. “What should I call you?”

“Euh.” Jack looked at Kent and Jeff.

“What about Papa?” Kent said, recalling his best French accent.

“But _you’re_ Papá,” Ari said.

“Not like Papá. It’s paaaa-paw. The first ‘a’ sounds like it does in ‘apple.’”

“Paaaa-paw. Paaa-paw. Papa.” She turned to Jack and tilted her head. “Do you like it, bio dad?”

Jack grinned. “I love it. Do you like it, bio daughter?”

“Papa. Yeah.” She smiled back at him. “I like it.”

* * *

The sounds of baking drifted from the kitchen—pans clanging, the mixer whirring, and both Ariana and Bitty giggling helplessly. Jack smiled at Kent and squeezed their shoulders. “Sounds like they’re having fun in there.”

Kent tilted their head back to look at Jack, also smiling. “Yeah. That was a really nice birthday gift. She talks about baking lessons all the time.”

Jack chuckled and went back to braiding Kent’s hair. “This is getting long, eh? And the bleach is starting to fade.” He tugged gently. “Are you growing it out on purpose or just too busy to cut and dye it?”

Kent rolled their eyes and nudged Jack’s knee. “Fuck you, Zimms. I get my hair done plenty. I’m kinda growing it out, I guess.”

“You guess?”

Kent shrugged. “I just wanted to see how it felt. It’s nice to be less masculine sometimes, you know? I thought about dyeing the tips pink, but I just...don’t want to cross too far into feminine.”

Jack leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of their head. “I think you look amazing, Kenny.”

“Aww.” Kent reached up to grip the back of Jack’s neck and pulled him down for a real kiss. “I love you, Zimms.”

Jack kissed them again. “I love you too, Kenny.”

He finished braiding their hair in silence, both of them listening to the joyful sounds from the kitchen. Soon he was just massaging Kent’s neck and shoulders, digging his fingertips gently into their muscles. They moaned quietly and leaned their head back, nuzzling the inside of his thigh. After a few moments of this, Jack tugged on their arm and pulled them into his lap, kissing them insistently.

Kent sank into the kiss with a quiet gasp, pulling Jack’s bottom lip between their teeth and working it gently. “Hi,” they whispered.

Jack smiled, his hand touching Kent’s cheek. “Hi.”

And then they were kissing again, slowly this time, content to just hold each other and feel their bodies moving in sync.

They didn't go very far—not with Ari in hearing distance—but they did draw out their kisses, Jack enveloping Kent in his arms while Kent let out breathy little whines. It was almost like the old days, when they stole a kiss every time they could manage it and hid their relationship from teammates and billet families.

“Fuck, Zimms,” Kent whispered, their hands squeezing Jack’s arms. “You’re so strong now.”

Jack grinned. “You got a thing for muscle, eh, Kenny? Like your men big and thick?”

Kent smirked and traced the bulge of Jack’s flexed biceps. “You know I do, _cariño.”_

Jack kissed them again, his movements hungry, and before they knew it he was flipping them onto their back, Jack's arms holding him up just enough to avoid any squashing.

Kent ran their hand through Jack’s hair. “Zimms.”

Jack kissed their neck and murmured, “Kenny.”

Kent grinned into Jack’s mouth and nipped his lip. “We should probably stop.”

Jack groaned but pulled back all the same. He ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”

They both drank some water and Kent flipped the fan on while Jack turned on the TV.

By the time Bitty and Ari joined them, they were snuggled up on one end of the couch watching the _Treehouse Masters_ team build a ridiculously large treehouse on somebody’s ridiculously large property. Ari jumped into Jack’s lap and rested her head on Kent’s shoulder. A moment later Kent and Jack's phones both buzzed with a picture Bitty sent to the polycule group chat. Kent saved it as their lock screen.

Eventually Ari dozed off in Jack’s arms, her face pressed into his shirt and her arms flung over his shoulders.

“Should I put her in bed?” Jack asked quietly.

Kent smoothed her hair down. “Probably. We’ll let her nap for like an hour and then I’ll take her home.”

Jack nodded and carried her away to the guest bedroom.

“She’s such a great kid,” Bitty said, smiling after them.

“Yeah.” Kent sighed, also smiling. “She’s always been amazing. I’m just glad—” they shrugged at Bitty “—I know things weren’t good between me and Jack for a while there. And I’m really fucking happy to have him back. But this is all I ever wanted when she was a baby—I just wanted her to know her Papa.”

Bitty leaned across the couch and squeezed their hand. “I’m really glad y’all were able to work things out. He loves her so much.”

“Yeah.” Kent grinned. “I know.”

* * *

Kent answered his phone the minute it rang. “Hey baby. You okay?”

“Yeah.” Jeff sighed. “That was a rough one.”

“I know. It looked pretty bad. How’s your shoulder?”

“It's fine. A little sore, but the doctor looked at it and she said it didn't exacerbate the old injury. That second-period check really wasn’t as bad as it seemed.”

Kent frowned. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. Did the kids stay up to watch?”

“Ari saw the first period, but she knocked out pretty quick after that. Vinny kept looking at the screen and talking about Daddy, though.”

“Aww, that’s sweet. We’ll make a hockey fan out of him, yet.”

“I think we definitely will.” Kent smiled. “You wanna get to bed, babe? I know how tired you must be.”

“Yeah.” Jeff yawned loudly. “I suppose that’s a good idea. You should check in with Jack, though—he took the loss pretty hard, I think.”

Kent hummed. “Okay. I’ll text him.”

“Sounds good.” Jeff yawned again. “Love you, baby. See you tomorrow.”

“Love you too, sweetheart. Sleep tight.”

 **Kent**  
_< 3_  
_you did good, zimms_  
_it’s a team sport_

 **Jack**  
_If I had made that shot, we would have had a better chance._

 **Kent**  
_you’re not the only one who missed a shot, cariño_

**Jack  
** _Whatever. I don’t want to talk about it._

**Kent  
** _do you want to talk about other stuff? i can try to distract you._

 **Jack**  
_Yeah._

 **Kent**  
_did i ever tell you about the time ari chipped her tooth?_

 **Jack**  
_No :(  
Is she okay?_

 **Kent**  
_oh yeah, babe, this was like three years ago_  
_and it was a baby tooth, don’t worry_  
_so it was just her and me, i wasn’t pregnant with vinny yet so liv hadn’t moved in_  
_(and jeff was around, obvs, but he was on the road when this happened)_  
_princess had gotten a scooter for her birthday and ari always wants what princess gets, so she got a scooter too_

 **Jack  
** _You’re such a pushover, Kenny._

 **Kent**  
_HAH. like you can talk, zimms.  
ariana came home the other day with a NEW TABLET [eyes emoji]_

 **Jack**  
_...okay. Good point._

 **Kent**  
_ANYWAY. we got her a scooter and she wanted to go out and try it, so i took her down to the park with all the sidewalks so she could play. i didn’t take my eye off her once.  
__but of course she somehow managed to find the one hill and go down it full-speed._

 **Jack**  
_Oh, no._

 **Kent**  
_yeah. she lost her balance and went face-first into the ground._  
_it was her front right tooth._  
_i rushed her to the dentist and they had to put a veneer on it because i didn’t think to bring the chipped-off part_

 **Jack**  
_Shit. That sounds horrible._

 **Kent**  
_i mean, she was fine. she cried because it hurt, but it wasn’t bleeding or anything and the dentist said that it hadn’t hit the nerve, so it wasn’t too complicated  
she lost that tooth a few months later anyway_

 **Jack**  
_Of course.  
Why did they do a veneer if it was just a baby tooth?_

 **Kent**  
_something about the possibility of pain. it was a pretty big chip, we were lucky it didn’t hit the nerve. i think they wanted to make sure it would be protected.  
also they know i’m rich and probably pushed for more than was necessary?_

 **Jack**  
_That’s bullshit. They shouldn’t take advantage of people like that._

 **Kent**  
_eh. it’s my baby, you know? i’m not going to risk skimping on something that might help her when i have a bank account full of money at my disposal._

 **Jack**  
_That still sucks that they would rip you off, though._

 **Kent**  
_i guess_

 **Jack**  
_I suppose I would have done the same thing if it had been me._

 **Kent**  
_see? who’s the pushover now???_  
_:)_  
_you want to stay up and skype for a bit?_  
_i think i’m awake enough_

 **Jack**  
_That’s okay, babe. I know you like your beauty rest :)  
And I’m just going to sit here and be pissed about the game, so I won’t be very good company._

 **Kent**  
_i wouldn’t mind <3  
but you should probably get some sleep, too, zimms_

 **Jack**  
_Yeah._

 **Kent**  
_you already talk to bits?_

 **Jack**  
_Yeah, I called him on the way back to the hotel._

 **Kent**  
_good. lie down and put on some music or something so you can sleep.  
listen to hamilton. you have that thing completely memorized._

 **Jack**  
_Yeah, okay. That sounds good._

 **Kent**  
_i love you.  
you’re an amazing man and an amazing player and i love the shit out of you._

 **Jack  
** _That sounds gross, Kenny._

 **Kent  
** _#nohomo_

 **Jack**  
_Haha. I meant the shit part.  
Dumbass  <3_

 **Kent**  
_GO TO SLEEP._

 **Jack**  
_Fine._  
_I love you, too._  
_Thanks for distracting me._

 **Kent**  
_you got it, babe <3  
nighty night_

 **Jack**  
_Sleep tight x_

* * *

 

The kids did their best to stay up and watch the away games with Kent, Bitty, and Liv. Usually Vinny fell asleep in Liv’s arms and Ari dozed with her head in Bitty’s lap while the last period played out. Kent was able to get a pic one night, and he sent it to Jeff and Jack after the third game with a caption that said, “Your family loves you.”

(Jeff told him later that Jack had cried.)

Game seven of the finals was at home. They all packed up and sat in the stands, a mix of Zimmermann and Troy jerseys between them. Their seats were close enough that they could see the players on the bench, and when Jeff looked back at them the kids both jumped and waved at their Daddy, landing them all on the jumbotron.

The game was fast-paced and brutal, and Kent felt a little thrill of nostalgia watching Jeff and Jack tear it up on the ice. At one point this had been his dream, too. His _reality_. He had come so close to being right where they were—he had no doubt he would’ve been amazing. With Jack dropping out, he would have gone to the Aces for sure. But he didn’t regret leaving hockey.

He would never regret Ariana and Vicente.

Vinny fell asleep after the second period. Ari sat in Kent’s lap, her head lolling, but she was determined to stay awake. The score was tied, the players looked exhausted, and everyone was on the edge of their seats.

“Come on, boys,” Kent murmured. “We got this. Somebody just sink it in there.”

Jeff got into a tussle with one of the Schooners and they both ended up in the sin bin.

There were only three minutes left on the clock. The shifts rotated, the four-on-four wasn’t leading to anything, and then Jack was up. There was a determined fire in his eyes that Kent could recognize even from the stands. He and Bitty exchanged an excited look and they both leaned forward as Jack took possession of the puck, passed it to his liney, flew across the ice as it was passed back to him, and then slapped it into the goal.

The crowd went wild.

Vinny jerked awake as Liv jumped from her chair, Ari waved her pom poms and jumped into Bitty’s arms for a boost, and Kent had actual tears streaming down his face.

They were so close. Only half a minute was left on the clock, and the Schooners tried to rally themselves but they all knew it was over. The crowd started shouting “Go Falcs! Go Falcs!” and then the time ran out. People screamed, confetti flew, and it was complete and joyful chaos.

Kent led the group to the rest of the families, pressing up against the glass and watching the Falcs hug and cry and scream their hearts out. Management joined them on the ice, and then someone rolled out a carpet to present the Stanley Cup. Marty, Guy, and Jack all took turns skating with the cup over their heads, then the rest of the guys joined in, and finally they let the families onto the ice.

Kent ran into Jeff’s arms, laughing and crying and telling him how proud he was. He handed over Ari, who was yelling and still holding her pom poms, and Jeff reached out to take Vinny, too. He skated them around for a moment, taking them over to the cup and letting them touch it, and then he was back and they were all hugging again.

“I’m so fucking proud, babe,” Kent said into his ear. He buried his face in Jeff’s neck and kissed the skin quickly, careful to remain inconspicuous.

He turned to find Jack, ready to give him his congratulations, but—

“Oh shit. Look at them.”

Jeff and Liv both gasped.

“That’s...fucking ballsy,” Jeff muttered.

“Papa! And Bitty!” Ari tugged on Jeff’s hair. “Look, Daddy, they’re over there!”

“They sure are.”

The screens were all lighting up with the footage, every onlooker gaping at Jack and Bitty, kissing at center ice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TRANSLATIONS**  
>  **Most used:**  
>  ** _Tía:_** Aunt/Auntie  
>  ** _Papi:_** Daddy  
>  ** _Papá:_** Dad  
>  ** _Papa:_** Dad (French)  
>  ** _mijo:_** my son (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _mija:_** my daughter (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _cariño:_** sweetheart  
>  ** _mon ange:_** my angel (French)  
>  **Phrases:**  
>  ** _tres leches cake:_** a Mexican milk-soaked sponge cake  
>  ** _mon coeur:_** my heart (French)  
>  ** _¡Espera en la puerta, Ariana!:_** Wait at the door, Ariana!  
>  ** _¡Paaaaapi! ¿Puedo entrar? ¿Por favoooor?:_** Daaaaady! Can I go in? Pleeeease?


	5. I'm On Top of the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Chapter Tags  
> -coming out presser  
> -sexytimes w/ multiple partners (including: a wee bit o' exhibitionism, brief use of "slut", and lots of checking in on consent)  
> -paps stalking bitty

Liv took the kids home while Kent and Jeff hitched a ride to the party with Bitty and Jack.

“I’m fucking exhausted,” Jeff said, leaning his head on Kent’s shoulder.

“I'll bet.” Kent hissed his hair. “You did great tonight, baby.”

“I can’t believe we actually did it,” Jack murmured from the front seat.

Kent reached forward and ruffled his hair. “You did great, too, Zimms.”

Bitty squeezed Jack’s knee. “Y’all deserve it. You worked so hard.”

“No shit.” Jeff yawned. “I’m gonna need some coffee or something if we’re really having a party.”

“Of course we’re having a party!” Kent poked at Jeff’s side until he laughed. “You just won the goddamn Stanley Cup!”

“Where is the cup, anyway?” Jeff asked.

“Marty’s got it. He’s bringing it over, don’t worry.”

“Shitty said he’s gonna make tub juice for it.”

“Oh god, that stuff is disgusting.” Kent grimaced. “No way are we gonna defile Lord Stanley with that shit.”

“Yeah, I’m with Kenny on this one,” Jack said.

“Didn’t you _actually_ shit in the cup?” Jeff smirked. “I don’t know if anything can be worse than that.”

“He did it twice,” Kent piped up.

“Fuck you, Kenny.”

“That sounds like a good plan for the evening.”

They all laughed.

“I think we’re gonna have too many people over for those kind of shenanigans.” Bitty gave Kent a wink through the rearview mirror. “Maybe on somebody’s cup day, though.”

“Now _that’s_ something I’m okay with putting in the cup.” Jeff grinned. “Maybe we can see how full we can get it.”

“God, you’re disgusting.” Kent rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “No fluids in the cup unless they’re drinkable.”

“I mean, we’ve all heard how much Jack loves to drink—”

“Okay! We’re here!” Bitty put the car into park and then turned around to raise an eyebrow at Jeff. “If you heathens are done, we’ve got a party to set up.”

They didn’t actually have to set anything up. Shitty, Lardo, Ransom, and Holster had already decorated the place with streamers, balloons, and Falcs confetti that they hopefully hadn’t taken from the stadium floor. Bitty unloaded his almost-ready pies and stuck them in the oven while the others started pouring drinks. Shitty was, in fact, making tub juice and Kent didn’t have it in him to put a stop to it.

They all drank _a lot_. There was beer pong and karaoke and a giant inflatable duck. (Kent was still a little confused about that.) He lost track of how many drinks he had or how much pie he ate—the celebration went well into the night and he was determined to stay fueled for it.

In the end, Kent was still among the first to crash. Bitty directed him to Jack’s room and told him to lie down, ushering Jeff in behind him. A while later they were joined by Jack and Bitty, and Kent was perfectly content to be in the middle of a smushed pile of four giant athletes trying to sleep in one bed.

It was way too early the next morning when a buzzing sound woke him up.

“Is that your phone?” Bitty murmured.

Kent groaned and buried his face deeper into Jack’s armpit.

“Zimmboni.” Tater opened the bedroom door. “Oh, and Swoops. Presser.”

They all groaned and one by one dragged themselves out of bed.

Jeff stuck a Stanley Cup Champions hat on Kent’s head and winked. “Your hair is ridiculous.”

Kent shoved his shoulder and followed everyone to the living room.

“You got everything?” Jack asked.

They all nodded.

“Might need you to get the door, Bits.” Jack said, hoisting up the cup.

“Of course!”

Kent smiled sleepily. “Cup too heavy for you, Zimms?”

“Cup is heavy,” Tater said, clapping Jack on the back. “Sore is part of celebration.”

They all laughed and followed Jack to the cars.

* * *

“Lord, I’m nervous,” Bitty wrung his hands. “Look at all these people.”

Kent bumped their shoulders together. “It’s gonna be fine. PR put out a statement last night and the guys will try to keep it focused on hockey.”

Bitty kept twisting his fingers and scanning his eyes over the crowd.

“What’s wrong, Bits?” Kent asked, squeezing his arm. “You seemed okay with this last night.”

“Yeah.” Bitty frowned. “I am okay with it. Mostly. But...I had to switch all my accounts to private because of all the bullshit and now there are all these people who’re gonna ask Jack all kinds of questions, and—it’s a lot to take in.”

Kent wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. “It’s gonna be okay. We’ve got your back.”

Bitty’s jumpiness seemed to reside a bit as he leaned into Kent. “Okay. Right.” He took a deep breath. “Thanks, Kenny.”

“Any time, Bits.”

The crowd erupted in shouts as the Falcs walked in and took their seats. They asked about the locker room, the team’s statement, and Jack being the “first openly gay male in a major league sport” (so many things were wrong about that one). Jack said something about the organization working together as a team and then they were back onto the personal stuff.

Kent snorted at one of Jack’s answers. “Hockey is fun, go play it." He shook his head. "Of course that’s what he’d say to LGBT youth.”

Bitty giggled a little too frantically.

“Hey. It’s okay.” Kent pulled him closer.

“Oh Lord, they just asked about me.”

“It’s okay, Bits. Look, Thirdy’s setting them straight.”

Bitty gave him an incredulous look.

Kent winced. “I swear I wasn’t punning on purpose.”

Bitty laughed again, this time a little more normally, and settled down as the presser moved into actual hockey questions.

Before the end, though, they got one more Jack-related question that Jeff jumped in on.

“Look, he’s not the first NHL player with a boyfriend, and he’s certainly not the only queer player in the league.” Jeff made eye contact with Kent, a clear question in his gaze, and Kent swallowed before nodding. “I’ve been with my husband for more than five years now—”

Bitty gasped beside him as the reporters went wild again.

“Okay!” Jeff put his hands out and the room quieted down. “Look, I’m just saying that it’s not a new thing. There are plenty of LGBT people out there playing sports and living their dream, and I just—I just want folks to know that it doesn’t change the fact that they can play.”

“Who’s your husband?”

“Is he here at the—”

“—plan this together or—?”

“Why are you choosing to—?”

“Did you and Jack ever—?”

“Okay! That’s it for today, folks. Thank you for your time. These boys have some more celebrations to prepare for.”

They all filed out while someone from PR took the stage.

“Well. That was a lot,” Bitty said as they headed back to the player’s lounge.

Kent let out a breath. “Uh. Yeah.”

“Did you guys talk about coming out?”

He laughed. “Kind of. We’ve discussed it before, but Jeff didn’t want to deal with all the press shit, so we never did it. It’ll probably help take some of the attention off you guys, though.”

Bitty squeezed his hand. “I appreciate it, honey.”

Kent squeezed back. “It will all be okay in the end.”

“Yeah.” Bitty didn’t look convinced.

* * *

Jack and Bitty remained the center of the public’s attention. Even after half a dozen other major-league athletes came out, Jack was the only one who had actually kissed his boyfriend on national TV after winning the Stanley Cup. Their apartment was constantly being watched by paparazzi and Bitty had been accosted several times at the bakery where he was working for the summer.

They started spending more time at Jeff and Kent’s place, hanging out there all day and only returning to their apartment at night. The kids loved having them around. Bitty continued his baking lessons with Ari and even Vinny got to participate (with Kent’s help) when they had something easy to stir or knead. Jack and Jeff trained together, Bitty joining them more often than not, and Kent and Liv took turns planning hearty dinners designed to help the boys pack on weight.

Even amidst all the chaos, it was nice.

“I wish you guys could be here all the time,” Kent muttered one night, sitting next to Jack on the couch in the basement and playing with his fingers.

Jack kissed Kent’s cheek. “Me too, _mon coeur.”_

Bitty was fast asleep on the other couch, an episode of _Friends_ playing on the TV. (Phoebe was doing a funny seduction dance in Chandler’s face and Kent giggled to himself.) Liv was already in bed, Jeff was working on his computer in the office, and both kids had been asleep for hours.

“I like it when you’re here,” Kent said into Jack’s shoulder.

“So do I.” Jack squeezed his fingers and used his other hand to tilt Kent’s head up and kiss him softly. “I love you, Kenny.”

Kent hummed and kissed him again, his hands finding Jack’s hair and pulling him down, lying back on the couch with Jack on top of him.

Jack grinned into his lips. “You’re so sexy like this,” he whispered, his voice gravelly. “Love it when you’re squirming under me.”

Kent let out a breath, smiling mischievously. “Bet you can’t make me squirm even more.”

“Oh?” Jack raised an eyebrow. “Challenge accepted.”

“Better do something to keep that mouth occupied, though.” Kent glanced at the other couch. “You don’t want to wake Bits. He’s had a long day.”

“Mmm.” Jack pushed his hands up Kent’s shirt, exposing his belly, and kissed every bit of skin that he could reach there. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Kent sighed and sank back into the cushions, spreading his legs open and giving Jack room to lie between them. Jack unzipped Kent’s jeans and tugged them off, tossing them onto the coffee table. He slid Kent’s panties down too—they had a large Falconers logo that made him laugh—and then got to work licking and kissing Kent in all the best places.

They stayed like that for some time, Kent enjoying the blissful feeling while Jack went down on him. Every once in a while he would look over at his sleeping friend and get a little thrill—Bitty could wake up at any moment and catch them in the act. Or Jeff could take a break from his work and walk in on them half-naked and fucking. They were right there, in the middle of the entertainment room for anyone to see.

“You’re picturing it, aren’t you?” Jack whispered as he was catching his breath. “Someone catching us, getting in trouble.” He licked up Kent’s slit. “You like it.”

Kent let out a shaky sigh. “Yeah.”

Jack hummed around Kent’s dick, causing Kent to gasp a little too loudly. “You’re such a slut for it, babe.” He licked firmly. “Such a good little slutty boy for us.”

Kent whined.

There was a rustle from the couch, but Bitty just turned over and sighed in his sleep.

“Gotta keep quiet if you want to be good for me,” Jack said, his low voice sending shivers up Kent’s spine.

Kent smirked and arched his back. “Make me.”

“You know,” a voice said above Kent’s head. “I’ve always found he listens better when he’s got something to do with his mouth.”

Jack grinned and nodded at Kent’s face. “Be my guest.”

Jeff shucked off his pants and underwear, leaning over Kent with a grin. “You good with this, babe?”

“Fuck yeah.” Kent lifted up and gave Jeff a sloppy kiss. “What about—?” He glanced over at Bitty, who had his own pants down and was clearly not actually sleeping. Bitty winked.

“Okay, yeah, let’s fucking do this.”

Jeff climbed onto his chest, blocking the view of Bitty slowly stroking his own cock. Jeff held his dick in front of Kent’s mouth and encouraged him to lick. Kent watched as it gained fullness and then took it into his mouth. Jack was still going at it down below and Kent groaned around Jeff’s thick cock.

“Fuck, y’all look so good right now,” Bitty muttered from the other couch.

Kent reached out a hand and beckoned him over. “Oh.” Bitty came over and leaned around Jeff. “You sure honey?”

Jeff pulled his cock out and Kent croaked, “Yeah. If you are.”

Bitty glanced back, probably having a silent conversation with Jack, and then he turned back with a smile. “Definitely.”

They had to rearrange. Kent threw some of the couch cushions onto the floor and laid back, his head hanging off the edge. Jack settled back in between Kent’s legs, Bitty at Kent’s side, and Jeff above his head. Kent felt absolutely blissed out with Jack’s tongue dipping into him, Jeff’s cock in his mouth, and Bitty’s cock in his hand.

After Kent’s first orgasm Jack lubed himself up and pushed in, fucking him slowly while Kent held Jeff’s spent cock in his mouth and worked Bitty to climax. When Jack finally came, Jeff was hard again and decided to take a turn of his own, Kent pulling Jack up to his head to lick his soft cock clean. Bitty still hadn’t come when it was his turn, but he didn’t seem to mind. He pulled on a condom (they hadn’t talked about going bare with him yet) and fucked Kent hard, Kent’s head now cradled in Jeff’s lap while Jack went back to work on his dick.

They all slept in the entertainment room that night, too tired to make the hike all the way up to the second floor to get into real beds. They pulled some blankets from the linen closet, curled together, and drifted off in a pile of bodies and cushions.

Kent was never happier.

* * *

**Bitty**  
_Some journalist showed up at work again today_  
_And I mean “journalist” in the loosest definition of the term_  
_They had a goddamn tape recorder in my face and kept asking me all this inappropriate shit about Jack_

 **Kent**  
_fuck, bits._  
_that’s SO not okay_  
_you want to come over?_

 **Bitty**  
_yes_  
_i hate this so much_  
_sara told me to just go home and she didn’t seem happy about it  
__i don’t want to lose this job, kent_

 **Kent**  
_just come over and we’ll figure it out  
it’s gonna be okay_

 **Bitty** __  
Okay  
_I’m on my way_

Bitty came in a few minutes later, his eyes puffy. Kent pulled him into a hug and stroked his hair while Bitty let more tears out, his face pressed into Kent’s shoulder.

“It’s not fair,” Bitty muttered, his voice bitter. “It’s not fucking fair.”

“It’s not,” Kent agreed. He held Bitty a little tighter. “You don’t deserve this, Bits.”

They cuddled up in the living room, the TV on low while Vinny napped. It wasn’t long before Vinny was yelling for his Papi to come get him, and when they were all downstairs again Vinny crawled into Bitty’s lap and patted his face.

“Bid! Bid cry?”

Bitty smiled at him. “Yeah, sweetpea, I was crying.”

“No cry, Bid.” Vinny rubbed his hand across Bitty’s cheek. “It okay. It okay.”

Bitty sniffed and pressed his forehead to Vinny’s. “Thanks, baby. I feel a lot better now.”

“It okay,” Vinny said again.

Jeff and Jack showed up a couple hours later, done with training for the day. Jeff blew Kent a kiss and headed straight for their bedroom while Jack came over to them at the couch.

“Hey, Bits.” Jack leaned over the armrest to give him a kiss. “Hey, Kenny,” he said, kissing Kent, too. “You guys have a good day?”

Bitty shrugged. “It was...fine. Kent helped.”

Jack furrowed his brow. “Did something happen?”

“Yeah. Paparazzi at work.” Bitty sighed. “Go shower, baby. We can talk about it when you don’t smell like a locker room.”

Jack laughed and kissed Bitty’s head. “Yes, sir. I’ll be back.”

Jeff emerged from his own shower a few moments later and grabbed the car keys. “I’m going to pick up Ari!”

“Thanks, babe!”

“Daddy!” Vinny jumped out of Kent’s lap and ran to Jeff, holding his arms up. “I go! I go, Daddy!”

Jeff laughed and lifted Vinny into his arms. “I guess I’m taking the little one with me.”

“Maybe you can get them a k-i-d-s m-e-a-l,” Kent spelled out.

“You just want f-r-i-e-s,” Jeff said, raising an eyebrow.

“That sounds good to me,” Bitty said, turning around to look at Jeff, too.

Jeff rolled his eyes. _“Fine_. We’ll back after we pick up Ari and get some junk food.”

“Thanks, babe!” Kent blew him a kiss.

“Yeah, thanks, babe!” Bitty echoed, smirking.

“Danks, bae!” Vinny shouted, clapping his hands.

“God, you two are the worst.” Jeff shook his head, smiling, and opened the laundry room door. “See you in a few.”

“Bye, babe!” they both shouted, and then erupted into giggles.

Jack came out a few minutes later, settling in with an arm on the back of the couch just behind Bitty’s head. He poked Kent’s shoulder and winked. “What’s so funny out here?”

Bitty scooted a little closer to Jack, fitting right into the spot under his arm. “Oh, you know. Jeff is getting fries.”

“Euh. Okay.”

Bitty and Kent laughed again.

“So,” Jack kissed Bitty’s head. “What happened at work, Bits?”  
Bitty explained the situation, Jack’s frown growing with every word.

“We need to do something about this,” Jack said when Bitty was done.

“No, honey, I don’t want to make things worse. We’ll just call attention to it and that’s the last thing we need.”

“Bits, it’s not okay that they’re stalking you at work. There needs to be some boundaries.” Jack pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. “We should call Janessa. If nothing else, they need to know that this is happening.”

Kent scratched the back of Bitty’s head. “He’s right. PR needs to know what’s going on.”

“Ugh.” Bitty sank into the couch, but he leaned his head toward Kent for more scratches. “Fine.”

They sat together while Jack called the PR rep and discussed their options. Bitty still didn’t want to make a big deal about it, but Janessa told them that she would take care of it and to contact her immediately if it happened again.

By the time Jeff and the kids got back with food they were more than ready to eat.

* * *

**Lardo**  
_yo  
__you at home?_

 **Kent**  
_yeah  
you in town?_

 **Lardo**  
_i will be in like 20 mins  
can i come over?_

 **Kent**  
_yeah, of course  
see you in a bit_

“‘Sup, Lardo.” Kent opened the door and let them in. “Taking a break from Boston for the day?”

“Shits is driving me nuts, man.” They paused. “Sorry, what are your pronouns right now?”

Kent grinned and tugged them into a hug, smacking a kiss on their head. “You’re the best. He/him is good today.”

Lardo followed him into the kitchen where Vinny was eating a peanut butter sandwich in his high chair.

“Where’s the big munchkin?” they asked, grabbing themself a juice box from the fridge.

“She’s at soccer camp. And those are for the kids, Lards.”

They shrugged and stabbed the straw into the hole. “Like you’re not a fucking millionaire who could afford to buy these for the whole neighborhood.”

Kent shook his head and grabbed a can of ginger ale. “Fair point.”

“So. How’s your week been? Is Ari staying overnight at camp?”

“Nah, it’s a day camp. It’s been quiet, though. Me and Vinny went to hang out with Bitty yesterday while the guys were training, so that was fun. The media assholes have died down a bit, so he’s in a better mood. He’s teaching me some of his top secret recipes.”

“Nice. Aunt Judy’s jam?”

“That’s next week. This week we made chocolate silk pie.”

“Pie!” Vinny shouted, banging his hand on his plastic tray. “I want pie!”

Kent smiled. “You need to finish your carrots before you can have pie.”

He shoved three pieces of cut-up carrots into his mouth. “Bie?” he asked through the food.

“In a few minutes, baby. When you’re all done.”

“I could go for a piece of pie,” Lardo said, smirking.

“Well you’ll just have to wait like the rest of us, won’t you?”

They sipped their juice noisily.

“Have you found anything good in Boston yet?”

They sucked the rest of the juice out of the carton and crumpled it up, tossing it neatly into the trash bin on the other side of the kitchen. “Nope.”

“I was thinking it might be cool for the kids to have something fun in their rooms. Maybe like a mural? Do you do stuff like that?”

They tilted their head. “I haven’t done an actual mural on an actual wall, but I do like working with large-scale projects.”

“Do you think I could commission you?”

They narrowed their eyes. “Kent, you don’t have to make up a project just because I don’t have any job prospects right now.”

“I’m not!”

They raised an eyebrow at him.

“Well, fine, maybe I am. But I think it would be really cool for the kids to have something personalized like that. And you’re the one who said I’m a goddamn millionaire. Let me do something nice with my money.”

“Well.” Lardo gave him a thoughtful look. “I suppose I can allow it, seeing as how you’re loaded and all.” They grinned. “I’m in.”

“Yes!” Kent raised a hand and gave them a high-five.

“Yes!” Vinny echoed, a new piece of carrot in his mouth.

Kent took a sip of his ginger ale. “We can scope out the rooms after lunch, if you want. There’s definitely a great wall for it in Vinny’s room, but I’m not sure which one would be best for Ari’s.”

“We’ll figure it out.” Lardo frowned as Kent grimaced. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, just—” Kent gestured to his stomach “—I’ve had a bug for a few days now. Nothing’s really staying down.”

“Shit, that sucks. Do you have a fever or anything?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe I should check, though.”

“Yeah, dude. You don’t want the kids to catch it if you have the flu.”

“Shit, you’re right. I think there’s a nasty one going around.” Kent frowned. “Can you keep an eye on Vinny for a minute? I’m gonna go find the thermometer.”

“Of course.” They plopped down in the chair next to Vinny’s seat and stole one of his carrots, making him giggle.

Kent ran upstairs to their bedroom and dug around in their drawers for the thermometer. It wasn’t in the first two drawers and he really didn’t think it was in the bottom one, which was full of toilet paper, bathroom wipes, and a package of pads for emergencies, but he figured he might as well look anyway.

He pushed aside the wipes, lifted the pads, and—

Oh.

He blinked.

No sign of fever.

Nausea that eventually led to vomiting.

He looked down at the package of pads in his hands.

“Kent?” Lardo called. “Can Vinny have his pie now?”

Kent didn’t move.

Lardo and the baby ( _two-year-old_ , he reminded himself) found him sitting on the bathroom floor a few moments later. Vinny ran up to him and patted his shoulder.

“Carrots all done, Papi!”

Kent looked up from the package to meet Lardo’s wide eyes.

“Oh my god.” Their mouth hung open.

Kent looked back down at the pads and then his eyes went to the hand holding his stomach. He absentmindedly moved his thumb over the soft fabric of his t-shirt.

“Oh my god,” he repeated.

“Oh god!” Vinny shouted, clapping his hands.

Kent blinked and then laughed. “You said it, _mijo.”_ He pulled Vicente into his lap and peppered his face in kissed until he was screaming and laughing. “You’ll always be my baby, Vinny. Just like your sister.”

“Papi! I want pie! Pie, pie, pie!”

Kent laughed. “Okay, okay. Let’s go have some pie. Then I think we’ll watch some _Doc McStuffins_ while Daddy and Lardo talk about grown-up stuff, hmm?”

“Pie, pie, pie! Pie, pie, pie!”

“His listening comprehension skills seem to be developing nicely,” Lardo said, smiling.

They got Vinny set up on a blanket in the living room with his pie on a little tray. Kent and Lardo sat with theirs at the table.

“So. You really think—?” Lardo raised their eyebrows.

“I don’t know. It’s, uh...it’s definitely possible.” He bit his lip. “Jeff and I never use condoms, and...a few months ago we decided I’d do the same with Jack. So.”

“Wow. Well. Do you have any pregnancy tests?”

“Oh shit, I do.” Kent looked at them with wide eyes. “Last year I thought I might be, so I bought a package that came with two and I never used the second one. Uh, can you—?” he gestured at Vinny.

“Yeah, duh. Go.”

He ran back up the stairs. The pregnancy test was right where he remembered leaving it. He took it over to the toilet, peed, and then waited two minutes. 

**~Polycule Group Text~**

**Kent**  
_[picture of a positive pregnancy test]_

 **Bitty**  
_WHAT!!!!!!!!!!_

 **Kent**  
_YEP_

 **Bitty**  
_OH MY GOD  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

 **Kent**  
_where tf are the guys ugh_

 **Bitty**  
_Jack texted a little while ago saying that practice was over and he was hitting the showers  
I’m sure they’ll be back any minute now_

 **Kent**  
_i guess i can accept the whole showering thing  
just this once_

 **Bitty**  
_lol_  
_oh my god, Kent, this is huge though!_  
_oh shit, do you know whose it is???_

 **Kent**  
_NOPE_

** Bitty **   
_I guess it leads back to that one weekend, doesn’t it?_

**Kent**  
_that’s what i’m thinking, yeah  
i mean, jeff and jack are the only ones who didn’t use protection with me, but...condoms fail sometimes_

 **Bitty**  
_oh Lord_

 **Kent**  
_i mean we should probably do a paternity test so we can know medical history and stuff  
but yeah_

 **Bitty** _  
wow_

 **Kent**  
_yeah_

 **Jeff**  
_Babe!!!!!!!  
__Oh my god!!!!!!!_

 **Kent**  
_yeah :)_

 **Jeff**  
_No wonder you’ve been sick this week_

 **Kent**  
_yeah, that’s how i figured it out  
i mean, i’ll definitely go to the doctor and shit to find out for sure, but...it’s all kind of adding up, you know?_

 **Jeff**  
_Yeah._  
_How are you feeling?_  
_(I’m grabbing Jack, he just got out of the shower.)_

 **Kent**  
_thanks :)  
i’m...good? i think?_

 **Jack  
** _Kenny._

 **Kent**  
_zimms._

 **Jack**  
_Do you need anything? We’re done here, I can bring you whatever you need._

 **Kent**  
_thanks, babe, but i think i’m covered  
maybe...could you guys come over? you and bits?_

 **Bitty  
** _of course we can, honey._

 **Jack**  
_Bits, I’ll come pick you up._

 **Bitty**  
_okay <3_

 **Jeff**  
_And I’m heading home_

 **Kent**  
_yeah, okay  
see you guys soon_

 **Bitty**  
_[sparkle heart emoji] [light brown baby angel emoji] [sobbing emoji]_

 **Jack**  
_love you, kenny <3_

 **Jeff**  
_See you in a few, baby_

Lardo left with a promise to come by next week and talk about the murals. Right after they walked through the door Kent realized that they would have to do three now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TRANSLATIONS**  
>  ** _Papi:_** Daddy  
>  ** _mijo:_** my son (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _mon coeur:_** my heart (French)


	6. It's Time to Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Chapter Tags  
> -polyamory negotiations  
> -terrible twos  
> -pregnancy sounds fun, eh?  
> -boys shipping their boyfriends

**Kent**  
_hey. do you think you could take the kids out for dinner tonight?_

 **Liv**  
_sure, mijo. you guys looking for a romantic night in? ;)_

 **Kent**  
_kind of? ish?  
[picture of a positive pregnancy test]_

 **Liv**  
_oh damn!_  
_i was not expecting that._  
_shit, kid. of course i’ll take the little monsters out. we’ll go somewhere with a play place._

 **Kent**  
_you should see if thirdy or carrie want to come, too  
ari will play a lot longer if princess is there, and it might help to have another set of eyes lol_

 **Liv**  
_good plan. i’ll swing by to get vinny in a bit and then we’ll go pick ari up from camp._

 **Kent**  
_thanks, sis  
you are honestly my favorite person in the whole world_

 **Liv**  
_any time, mijo.  
see you soon._

Jeff arrived at the same time as Jack and Bitty, holding bags of take-out.

“Oh, thank god,” Kent muttered, grabbing the box of fried rice and hoarding it for himself. “I’m so fucking hungry.”

They gathered around the table, dishing food onto their plates with forks and chopsticks. Kent kept eating the rice directly out of the container, but nobody complained—Jeff had bought an extra so Kent could have his own.

“So.” Jeff rubbed Kent’s shoulder. “How are you doing, babe?”

Kent let out a breath. “Good, I think. I mean, this is...a lot different than the first or second time.”

“I’ll say.” Bitty tilted his head. “Are you going to find out who the father is?”

“I mean, I think so.” Kent shoved another forkful of rice into his mouth. He took a minute to chew and swallow before answering. “It's important to know about the baby's medical history and stuff. But also...I guess it kind of depends on how you guys want to handle it.”

“What do you mean, Kenny?”

Kent exchanged a look with Jeff, who gave him an encouraging smile.

“Yeah?” Kent asked.

“Yeah.” Jeff said, reaching out to squeeze Kent’s hand.

“Okay.” Kent smiled and turned to Bitty and Jack. “So. We’ve been talking, and we’ve noticed that this—” Kent gestured at the four of them “—is sort of...turning into its own unit, I guess?”

Bitty smiled. “We talked about that, too.”

“Oh, good.” Kent laughed. “Well, we were thinking that—only if you guys wanted, of course! But, maybe...you could move in with us.”

Jack was beaming. “Really? You want us here?”

“We do,” Jeff said. “You’re already an important part of our lives, the kids love you, Ari would be so happy to have her Papa here...and—” he glanced at Kent.

“And we hate it when you leave,” Kent said.

Bitty reached across the table and touched Kent’s hand. “We hate it when we leave, too.”

“We were thinking you guys might want to have the basement. It can be like your own little apartment, but also still part of the house. Or we also have an extra guest room upstairs that we can turn into a second master suite. That might take a little longer, but—”

“We’ll talk it over,” Bitty said. “I think it will just be nice to be here all the time.”

They all smiled at each other.

“So. Watch a movie downstairs while we finish eating?” Kent asked, pushing himself up and grabbing his container of rice.

“Good plan.”

* * *

“Are we still gonna do movie night?” Ari asked, watching the movers fill the basement with Jack and Bitty’s things.

“Sure we are, _mija.”_

“But we always do them in this room and now Papa and Bitty are taking it!”

 _“Mon chou.”_ Jack knelt down and pulled her into his arms. “Do you want to keep doing movie nights in here?”

Ari nodded.

“Then we can keep doing movie nights in here.” Jack kissed her head. “Bitty and I just wanted to be closer to you guys, so your Papi and Daddy said we could move in.”

“Okay.” Ari hugged him. “I’m glad you’re moving in, Papa. Now we can really be a family.”

Jack smoothed her hair back and smiled. “You’re my family no matter what, Ariana. But I’m glad we get to all live together, too.”

“Come on, _mija,_ let’s go play upstairs while these nice off-duty firemen movers get all of your  Papa and Bitty’s stuff set up.”

Ariana frowned. “They’re not firemen, Papi. Firemen wear big yellow clothes and helmets.” She shook her head. “You should know that.”

“Well, you’re right. That’s what they wear when they’re fighting fires, but when they’re _off duty_ they wear whatever they want. And right now they’re not fighting fires, they’re being movers, so they’re dressed to be movers. “

“Oh.” Ariana grabbed both Kent and Jack’s hands and pulled them up the stairs and into the living room. “I wanna watch a movie!”

Kent put in _Zootopia_ while Ari pushed Jack onto the couch and sat in his lap. When Kent sat next to them she shifted so that she was sitting on both of them.

Jack wrapped an arm around Kent’s shoulders and rubbed his nose against Kent’s cheek. “I’m glad we’re here, Kenny.”

Kent leaned into him, a soft smile on his face. “Me too, Zimms.”

About half way through the movie Ariana was fast asleep, sprawled across their laps. Kent turned his head to whisper to Jack, but he was sleeping as well, his head tilted back against the wall while his arm cradled Ari to his chest.

Kent smiled and laid his head on Jack’s shoulder, watching the movie until he dozed off, comforted by the presence of his family.

* * *

 

“Rawr!” Ari held out her T-Rex arms. “I’m gonna eat you!”

Vinny ran from her, screeching and laughing in his cowboy costume. “Ari! No eat me!”

Kent shook his head and smiled at his little ones, rubbing his now-showing belly. Soon there would be a third kid running around and terrorizing their siblings.

“Hey, babe.” Jeff called from the top of the stairs. “Can you do my makeup?”

“Yeah!” Kent called back. “You’re gonna have to bring it down here, though. I’m not climbing any more stairs until bedtime!”

Jeff disappeared and then returned a moment later, adorned in a very sparkly figure skater’s costume. He handed over Kent’s makeup kit and sat at the table, Kent taking a seat in the chair next to him.

“Ow!” Jeff said, jumping when Kent pressed a pencil to his eyelid.

“Oh stop it, you big baby,” Kent shook his head. “That didn’t hurt.”

“Startled me, though,” Jeff muttered. “Warn a guy next time.”

“Fine. Close your eyes.”

Jeff did.

“I’m going to touch your eye with the eyeliner now. Don’t fucking flinch.”

“Bossy.”

Kent dragged the soft pencil across Jeff’s lid, turning his face gently to check the result. “Good. I’m doing the other eye now, okay?”

“Fine.”

Kent applied eyeshadow, mascara, and lipstick, each in a glittery shade of blue or black, and finished it all off with a kiss to Jeff’s cheek. “You look stunning, babe.”

Jeff bounced in his chair. “Lemme see.”

Kent held up a mirror and grinned at Jeff’s expression. “You like?”

“Wow.” Jeff looked up at him. “I forget how good you are at this stuff, babe. It looks awesome.”

“Thanks.” Kent shrugged. “I like doing it.”

“Y’all ready up here?” Bitty came up the stairs, his Batman costume complete with mask, cape, and utility belt.

“Yup! Just need to wrangle the kids. Where’s Zimms?”

Jack came up a moment later in a button-up white shirt and a pair of glasses. “Here.”

Jeff and Kent stared. “Babe. That’s...not really a costume.”

Bitty giggled. “Watch this.” He tugged at Jack’s buttons until the shirt was half-way open, and underneath—

“Superman!” Ari cried, running to Jack and jumping into his arms. “Where’s your cape?”

“I'll pull it out when we get there, _mon ange.”_

Vinny came running in a moment later, a too-long piece of toilet paper dragging behind him.

_ “Vicente. ¿Qué es eso?” _

Vinny held the toilet paper up to his Papi, grinning. _“¡Papel!”_

_“¿Y donde lo obtuviste?”_

“Toilet!”

Kent sighed and took Vinny’s hand. _“Vámonos._ Toilet paper isn’t for playing, Vicente.”

The downstairs bathroom was covered in torn-up toilet paper. Kent let out a breath. “Okay. You need to pick this up before we can go, _mijo.”_

“No!”

 _“Híjole,”_ Kent muttered to himself. “Where’s your Daddy? I think it’s his turn to deal with this.”

Jeff, reading Kent’s mind, showed up at the door. “Everything okay in here?”

“No!” Vinny cried.

“Ah. I see.” Jeff touched Kent’s back and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I got this, baby. You guys head to the rink, I’ll bring Vinny when we’re done here.”

“Really?” Kent sighed in relief. “Thanks, babe. You’re my hero.”

“I know.” Jeff winked at him and then turned to their son. “Okay, Vinny. Looks like we have a mess to clean up!”

“No!”

Kent backed out of the room before he had to witness the meltdown. Vinny was definitely experiencing his terrible twos.

“Okay! We’re going in Jack’s car and Daddy’s gonna bring Vinny when they’re done cleaning up the bathroom.”

There was a loud screech followed by a chant of “No! No! No!” from the bathroom.

“And that’s our cue.” Bitty grabbed the keys and led them to the garage, everyone but Ari doing their best to ignore the tantrum in the bathroom.

“Why’s Vinny mad?” Ari asked as Jack buckled her into her carseat.

“It’s hard to be two,” Kent said, squeezing her knee. “Most kids have a rough time at that age.”

“Why?”

“Well. Part of growing up means learning how to do things for yourself. When you’re two you want to do things your way, but you also have to learn how to follow the rules, and that can be hard.”

“Oh. Will the new baby have a hard time being two?”

“Probably, yeah. You did.”

“I did?”

Kent laughed. “Yeah, _mija,_ you did. One time you threw a huge fit at the grocery store because you wanted to get orange popsicles and they didn’t have any boxes of just orange.”

“What did I do?”

“You kept screaming and throwing the boxes out of the cart.” Kent chuckled to himself. “It was actually the first time Daddy came grocery shopping with us, back before we got married.”

“Oh. Was Daddy mad?”

Kent ruffled her hair. “No, he wasn’t mad. He was really great about it and he gave you a big hug and told you that he would pull out all the orange ones just for you when we got home.”

“Aww, that’s nice.” Ari smiled. “Daddy’s nice.”

“Yeah, he is, isn’t he?” Kent laughed. “And he’s really good at dealing with upset two-year-olds.” Kent caught Jack’s eye in the front seat and winked. “Thank goodness.”

They all laughed.

Family skate was already underway when they arrived. Ari waited patiently while Bitty helped her get skates on and then she zoomed across the ice to hug Princess.

“Sometimes I still can’t believe how good she is,” Jack muttered, watching as the girls raced around the rink.

“Well, she’s the product of several men who are excellent skaters.” Bitty said, lacing up his figure skates and winking. “She was bound to be a prodigy.”

“True,” Kent said, settling in on the bench. “She could probably go the professional route if she wanted to.”

“You’re not skating, Kenny?” Jack frowned.

Kent shook his head. “My legs have been cramping all morning. I might come out in a bit if I feel up to it.”

He sat for a while and watched the kids all playing with each other. H rubbed his belly and thought about the little baby inside with a smile. He didn’t mind missing out on some skating, not when the cause was such an amazing little thing.

The baby kicked against his hand.

 _“Hola, mi cielito. Estoy emocionado de conocerte.”_ He drew a little heart with his finger on the spot the baby kicked. _“Te quiero.”_

“Hey babe.” Jeff appeared behind him, his arms wrapping Kent in an hug. He pressed a kiss to the side of Kent’s head.

“Hey, _cariño.”_ Kent leaned back into him. “Is Vinny okay?”

“He’s fine. Bitty took him as soon as I walked in.”

Kent scanned the ice for Bitty and his son—they were on the far side of the rink, Bitty crouched down and leading Vinny on his tiny toddler skates.

“Thanks for dealing with that,” Kent said, smiling up at him. “I don’t think I’m gonna be very good with toddler tantrums while I’m pregnant.”

“Don’t worry about it, babe. I’ll take care of it whenever I can.”

Kent hummed. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Jeff kissed his cheek. “You gonna skate at all?”

“Maybe later. My legs hurt too much right now.”

“Oh, honey.” Jeff squeezed his shoulders. “Maybe we should get you a massage this week, hmm?”

“Oh. Yes, please. That’s a great idea.” Kent glanced down at his phone. “Maybe I’ll see what I can find and get it set up today.”

“Good plan.” Jeff hugged him close. “You okay over here? Or do you want company?”

“I’m okay.” Kent smiled. “Go skate. The kids love it when you’re out there with them.”

“Okay. Let me know if you need anything.” He turned Kent’s face to kiss him properly.

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

* * *

The first half of the season went by fast. The boys played hard, Liv helped Kent with the kids, Bitty jumping in whenever he could get away from campus, and the holidays came and went with all kinds of happy chaos. As the new year approached, Kent felt more and more consumed with love for the little family that they had built.

“Kenny, _mijo._ I need to talk to you,” Liv said one morning before she had to work.

_“ ¿Qué honda, Liv?”_

She smiled and reached for his hand. “I think it’s time for me to be a little more present at the shop.”

“Oh.” He frowned. “You know I support you and your career, big sis.”

“I know you do. And I have loved living with you these past several years, Kenny. You are the best little brother I could ever ask for.”

“This feels like it’s gonna be some kind of tragic goodbye,” Kent said, his voice subdued. “Liv, what’s—?”

“I just think...it’s time for me to have my own place.”

“Oh.” Kent blinked. “Still here in town, though, right?”

“Yeah, _mijo,_ still in town. Just closer to the shop. And possibly with Jay.”

Kent raised his eyebrows. “With Jay? Really?” He was smiling now. “I didn’t think they would ever be ready to move in.”

“Yeah, well. We’ve been talking about it and they’re pretty sure they want to do it.” She grinned. “So we’ll need something bigger than a room in your house.”

“Aw, Liv, you know we have plenty of space—”

“Yeah, I know. It’s not really about that. It’s just something I feel like I need to do, you know?”

“Yeah, I get that.” Kent smiled at her and then pulled her into a hug. “I love you, sis.”

She squeezed him tight. “I love you, too, _mijo.”_

He pulled back and wiped at his wet eyes. _“Dios,_ I don’t know why I’m crying. I’m just really emotional lately.”

Liv patted his cheek. “That sounds pretty normal, Kenny.”

“When are you leaving?”

“I don’t know yet. I'll still help you out when the guys are out of town, of course, but I'm thinking I'll clear out of here before the baby is born. That way you can decorate my room as the new nursery.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea! I really didn’t want to use that extra guest room, it’s so far down the hall.”

“We’ll figure everything out, Kenny. We can start planning today if you want.”

Kent hugged her again. “Thanks, Liv. You’re the best sister ever.”

She ruffled his hair. “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

* * *

Kent really didn’t think it was fair that his husband and his boyfriend had an away game on Valentine’s Day. He had pouted about it all morning, huffing and sighing whenever the day was mentioned. He was sure he was driving poor Bitty up the wall, but this year it was really bumming him out.

“We’re going to do something on Thursday night, baby,” Bitty said, bringing him a cherry mini pie with little hearts baked into the crust.

Kent inhaled the delicious smell of his favorite pie and took a bite, his body relaxing just a bit. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry I’m being like this.”

Bitty sat next to him and pulled him into his arms. “It’s fine, honey.”

Kent took another bite of pie and leaned into Bitty, his throat tight as he swallows. “I'm really glad you could be here. I’m just. I’m feeling really sensitive today, I guess.” He shrugged. “I blame the hormones.”

Bitty laughed. “That’s perfectly reasonable, baby.” He wiped at the tears that were slowly spilling over the edge of Kent’s eyelids. “You wanna snuggle and watch some Netflix?”

Kent nodded. “Downstairs?”

“Sure, honey.” Bitty took his hand and helped him up off the couch, leading him down to the entertainment room in the basement. “You just sit down now, sugar, I’ll get everything set up. What do you want to watch?”

Kent sank into the overstuffed couch cushions. _“One Day at a Time.”_

Bitty nodded, pulled up Netflix, and started the show from where they left off last time. When everything was settled and the lights were on dim, he situated himself so Kent could lie between his legs and rest his head on Bitty’s chest. Kent hummed happily.

“Better?”

“Yeah.” He licked his lips. “I’m glad Liv took the kids today. I don’t know how I’d handle them like this.”

“Oh, baby. We could’ve done it if we needed to. You know they’d both want to snuggle and watch TV with you.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Kent rubbed the fabric of Bitty’s shirt between his fingers. “Thanks for driving all the way from Samwell. I’m glad you’re here, Bits.”

Bitty leaned down and kissed Kent’s head. “Me too, honey.”

They watched the last two episodes of the season and then started back at the beginning, pausing only for Bitty to get the door when their food was delivered. They switched to the game when it started, cheering on their boys and sending gushy texts to the group chat when either of them made a nice play. Jack scored the game winner and blew a kiss at the nearest camera, an action that was giffed almost immediately and used by fans as a Valentine’s Day meme for the rest of the evening.

Liv brought the kids home before bedtime and helped Bitty and Kent get them tucked in while Jack and Jeff were in post-game. Once Ari and Vinny were settled, Kent and Bitty headed to the master bedroom to set up their Skype call. It rang after a few minutes.

“Hey, guys,” Jeff said, smiling at the camera.

Jack was curled into his side, his head tucked into Jeff’s shoulder. Kent and Bitty exchanged a look—Jack and Jeff weren’t usually so intimate.

“Hey boys,” Bitty said, his smile getting bigger. “Good game.”

“You’re an internet sensation, Zimms,” Kent added.

Jeff laughed and put an arm around Jack. “Isn’t he always?”

“True,” Kent said.

“Did you guys have a good day?” Jack asked, eyes searching their faces.

Kent sighed. “It was okay. I was kind of in a funk, but Bitty took care of me.” He glanced over and squeezed Bitty’s hand with a small smile.

“Baby.” Jeff frowned. “Do you need anything? I could call my mom, see if she could—”

“No, _cariño,_ it’s okay. We watched Netflix all afternoon and I’m feeling better. I just miss you guys.”

“We miss you, too, Kenny.” Jack’s eyes were sad. “And you, Bits.”

“Thanks, sweetpea. I made some pies for y’all to have when you get home tomorrow.”

“They’re amazing,” Kent said.

Jeff laughed. “Obviously.”

They sat quietly for a moment, drinking each other in, before Bitty got a sly look on his face.

“Y’all look pretty comfortable over there.”

Jack actually _blushed_ and hid his face in Jeff’s neck.

Jeff just laughed and kissed Jack’s head. “Yeah. We had a good conversation.”

Kent and Bitty exchanged another glance, both of them grinning.

“That’s great, _cariño,”_ Kent said.

Jack muttered something into Jeff’s shoulder.

“What’s that, honey?”

Jeff smiled and rubbed Jack’s back. “He said no chirping about it tonight.” Jeff winked at them. “We’ll tell you all about it when we get home.”

“Okay, sweetie. Don’t worry, we won’t chirp you.” Bitty smiled at Jack, his gaze full of love.

Kent had a similar look in his eye. “You guys look tired. Maybe we should call it a night?”

“Probably a good idea,” Jeff said while Jack yawned.

They said their _I love yous_ and blew each other kisses before signing off.

“Well that was something,” Kent said, grinning at Bitty.

“I’ll say. Did you see that head kiss?”

 _“Yes,_ oh my god. What do you think happened?”

“I don’t know!” Bitty’s eyes were bright. “Something good, though.”

“Definitely.”

They grinned at each other for a few more minutes, laughing and gushing over their boys. When they both started yawning, too, they did their nighttime routines and slid into the large bed, still giddy over the new development.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TRANSLATIONS**  
>  **Most used:**  
>  ** _Papi:_** Daddy  
>  ** _Papa:_** Dad (French)  
>  ** _mijo:_** my son (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _mija:_** my daughter (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _cariño:_** sweetheart  
>  ** _mon ange:_** my angel (French)  
>  **Phrases:**  
>  ** _Mon chou:_** sweetheart (French)  
>  ** _Vicente. ¿Qué es eso?:_** Vicente. What is that?  
>  ** _¡Papel!:_** Paper!  
>  ** _¿Y donde lo obtuviste?:_** And where did you get it?  
>  ** _Vámonos.:_** Let's go.  
>  ** _Híjole:_** Ugh  
>  ** _Hola, mi cielito. Estoy emocionado de conocerte.:_** Hello, my little sky/heaven. I'm excited to meet you.  
>  ** _Te quiero.:_** I love you.  
>  ** _¿Qué honda, Liv?:_** What's up, Liv?  
>  ** _Dios:_** God


	7. This Is My Kingdom Come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional Chapter Tags  
> -depictions of labor and birth (nothing too graphic)  
> -lots of emotional familytimes <3

“Papi, can I have another taco?”

Kent set another tortilla on her plate. “Sure, _mija._ Do you want beans or carne asada?”

_“ ¡Carne asada, por favor!”_

He reached across the table to dish the meat onto the tortilla then sprinkled onions and cilantro over the top.

_“ ¡Gracias, Papi!”_

_“ ¿Vicente, quieres más?”_

_“ ¡Más, Papi!”_

Kent made a second taco for Vinny, setting it on his plastic tray.

“I’m running to the grocery store!” Bitty said, swooping into the kitchen and pulling the list off the fridge. “Anything you need me to add to this?”

“Ice cream sandwiches!” Ari cried.

“Gummies!” Vinny clapped his hands.

Bitty laughed. “Mr. Villanueva Troy, is there anything _you_ need from the store?”

“Shit, I definitely want ice cream sandwiches and gummy worms. Oh! And some Takis. Like, three bags of the _fuego_ ones.”

Bitty scribbled on the list.

“And can you get me some of those peanut butter crackers?”

“Sure thing, sweetpea. Anything else?”

Kent smiled and tilted his head up. “A kiss?”

“Oh, you.” Bitty laughed and leaned down to peck his lips.

“Kiss!” Vinny demanded.

“Me too!” Ari yelled.

“Okay, okay! Kisses all around for my favorite people!” Bitty kissed both kids before landing another one on Kent. “Okay. You two take care of your daddy while I’m at the store.”

“We will, Bitty!”

“Bye, Bitty!”

Kent grinned. His kids were the absolute cutest. He took a bite of his taco and rubbed at his oversized belly. It was only two more weeks until he had three perfect babies.

After the kids finished lunch Kent helped them clean up and let them run off to play in the playroom adjacent to the living room. He settled in carefully on the couch and flipped on the TV, scrolling through the channels until he landed on _Property Brothers._

“Ooh, that’s a nice backsplash,” he said to himself, eyeing the blue patterned tiles.

He dozed off a little, listening to the kids playing with their miniature kitchen. It sounded like Ari was the waiter and Vinny was the chef. He smiled to himself and let his eyes fall shut.

Minutes later Kent was woken by a wet sensation in his lap. His eyes sprung open and he looked around for the culprit, but neither of the kids was around. How had he managed to spill something on himself in his sleep? He stared down at the wet spot, confused, until it finally clicked.

He scrambled for his phone and called Bitty.

“Hey, honey. I’m just checking out. They were all out of—”

“Bits.”

“Kenny?”

“My water just broke.”

There was no sound from the other end.

“Bitty?”

“Oh my god, honey, I’m coming home right now.”

“Bitty, wait!” Kent shook his head. “Finish paying for the groceries. I can wait the extra few minutes.”

“Kenny, no, of course not. I’m coming straight home—”

Kent frowned down at his wet pants. “Babe, it’s fine. I’ve got to change and get the kids ready and stuff anyway. Besides, my contractions are still pretty far apart. I mean, I thought they were just false labor—”

“Now wait just a minute. Are you saying you’ve already been having contractions?”

Kent grimaced—he hadn’t actually meant to drop that information. “Well yeah. That happens. They’re not bad yet, and they’ve been pretty inconsistent since yesterday afternoon.”

“What!”

“Bitty, _cariño._ It’s okay. I’ve done this before. Now that the water broke we’ll head to the hospital. But seriously, just get the groceries, okay?”

Bitty huffed. “Fine. I’m next in line anyway.”

“I’m gonna change and I’ll have the kids get their shoes on. Then we’ll head to the hospital. Good?”

“Good.”

“You wanna call Jack and freak out to him now?”

“Yes.”

Kent laughed. “I love you. And I'm really glad you're on Spring Break right now.”

“I love you too, baby. I'll be home in a few minutes.”

Kent opened his text chain with Jeff.

 **Kent**  
_water just broke. bits is at the store and freaking out._

 **Jeff**  
_Aw, poor Bitty :( You doing okay?_

 **Kent**  
_i’m fine. gonna get the kids’ stuff together and then bits will take me to the hospital._

 **Jeff**  
_Okay <3 We’re almost done here, Jack is just having a quick meeting with the other As._

 **Kent**  
_that’s not gonna last much longer lol. bits is about to call him/em >_

__

**Jeff**  
_Of course he is lol. Jack and I will meet you at the hospital?_

 **Kent**  
_sounds good. thx babe <333_

**Jeff** _  
Love you, Kenny <3 We’ve got your back, baby._

* * *

Kent had his favorite pillow propping him up in the hospital bed. He was wearing a comfy delivery gown that he had special-ordered and his laptop was playing his carefully-cultivated labor playlist.

“Papi, when will the baby be here?” Ari asked, looking up from her pile of Legos.

Kent looked up from his Twitter feed and smiled at her. “It’s gonna be a few hours, baby. Maybe even all day.”

“Oh. Do we have to stay here all day?”

“Tía is gonna come get you really soon. She’s just gotta get her partner to take the rest of her appointments.”

Ari nodded and went back to her toys.

“Tía coming?” Vinny asked from Bitty’s lap.

“That’s right, sugar,” Bitty said, handing him another rice puff. “She’s gonna come pick you up and take you home while your Papi delivers the new baby.”

Jeff and Jack arrived a few minutes later, looking like they had just finished a rigorous workout.

“Hey, babe.” Jeff smoothed back Kent’s hair and kissed his forehead.

“Hi, _cariño,”_ Kent said.

“You doing okay, Kenny?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, I’m good. Contractions are getting a little closer together, but I’m only dilated three centimeters so we’ve got a ways to go.”

Liv showed up about twenty minutes later to get the kids, who were already restless. She pressed a kiss to Kent’s head and wished him luck before ushering them out the door.

“And now we wait,” Kent said, leaning back into his pillows.

He was hit with a contraction about thirty seconds later.

“Ugh,” he put a hand on his back, frowning. “We didn’t bring the heating pad, did we?”

Jeff groaned. “Oh my god, we are so stupid.”

Kent shook his head and laughed. “I can’t believe we did this again.”

“What?” Bitty asked.

“When Ari was born my back took the brunt of the contractions, so Liv ran out and bought me a heating pad. Then when Vinny was born we forgot it at home, so Jeff went home to get it but he couldn’t find it, so he went to Target and bought a new one.”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “We had a list, god. I can’t believe we forgot the heating pad.”

Bitty stood and grabbed his keys and wallet from the table. “I can go get it, honey. Where is it?”

“God, who knows?” Kent snorted. “Can you just go buy a new one, Bits? Ughhh,” he groaned, leaning forward. “These contractions are a bitch.”

Jack sat next to him and pushed Kent’s hand away, rubbing the spot that he had been holding.

Kent moaned. “Fuck. A little lower?” He moaned again and closed his eyes. “That feels so good.”

Jeff sat down in front of Kent and Kent leaned his head on Jeff’s shoulder while Jack massaged his back. Bitty slipped out the door with a quiet “thank you” from Kent.

* * *

Two hours later Kent was pacing the hallways, holding Jeff’s hand and stopping to lean on him every time a contraction came. He was dilated six centimeters when they last checked and his contractions were getting more and more painful. He groaned through another one right next to the nurse’s station, putting most of his weight on Jeff’s arms and leaning his head into his chest.

“This sucks,” Kent muttered.

“I know, baby.” Jeff squeezed Kent’s arms. “You’re doing great.”

One of the nurses cheered him on when they started walking again.

* * *

“Come on, Kenny, you can do this,” Jack said, holding him through a painful contraction. “Breathe through it, babe.”

Kent let out a cry as the contraction got stronger, his hands clutching Jack’s shirt. “God dammit!”

A minute later (although it felt much longer), Kent was collapsing in Jack’s arms.

“It’s okay, Kenny. It’s okay. You’re doing so good and the doctor said you’re well into the final phase of these.” Jack kissed his head. “Not much longer before you can start pushing.”

* * *

“Okay, baby, that’s good. Breathe through it.” Bitty held Kent’s hand as he laid back on the bed and took deliberate breaths.

“Is it time yet?” he asked the doctor examining him.

She looked up at him and smiled. “It’s time. You’re fully dilated, Kent. I’m gonna have you start pushing soon, okay? Get ready.”

Jeff and Bitty flanked his head while Jack stood by the doctor and watched. Kent caught Jack’s eye and smiled. “Okay. I’m ready.”

* * *

“Come on, Kent, I’m gonna need you to push harder than that. Take a few breaths, the next one’s coming.”

Kent did his best to breathe, but he was crying and his whole body hurt and stupid Jack had to go and fucking knock him up _again_ , ugh!

“It’s okay, Kenny,” Jack said, sitting behind him and bracing him while he pushed. “You can do this. You’re fucking amazing, you can totally do this.”

Kent pushed again when the doctor prompted him, letting out a loud grunt.

“Good job, Kent. Just a few more and we should be able to see the baby’s head.”

Jeff wiped his forehead with a cool cloth while Bitty watched from behind the doctor, eyes wide.

“Bits, don’t pass out,” Kent said, his laugh interrupted by another contraction.

“The baby is coming pretty quickly now.” The doctor smiled at him. “You’re an old pro, Mr. Troy.”

Kent laughed. “Third time’s the charm.”

The baby did come quickly after that. Kent focused on pushing when he was told to and breathing through the pain. After several more minutes the baby’s head and shoulders were out and then—

“Congratulations! She's beautiful.”

Kent collapsed back into Jack’s arms and closed his eyes, tears slipping out. He was _so tired._ He nuzzled into Jack while doctor cut the umbilical cord and then she laid the baby on Kent’s belly and Kent’s entire focus shifted. He touched her face and marveled at her bright blue eyes. He tucked the soft newborn blanket over her little hands.

 _“ Bienvenidos, mi cielito.” _He sniffed. _“ Te quiero.”_

* * *

“Papi!” Ari ran to Kent’s bed.

“Hi, _mija._ You can come up here.”

She climbed up next to him and gave him a big hug. “Tía took us to the zoo!”

“Well that sounds fun!” He smiled at his sister, who had just set Vinny on the other side of the bed. “Hey there, little one.”

“Papi!” Vinny scooted up the bed and gave him a hug, too. _“ Te quiero.”_

Kent looked down at his sweet little son and started crying. _“ Te quiero también, mijo.”_

“Where's the new addition?” Liv asked, settling into a chair by Kent’s bed.

“Nursery. The guys are down there watching her.”

Liv ran her fingers through his hair, smiling. “You did good, _mijo._ I’m proud of you.”

Kent sniffled. “Thanks, big sis.” He blinked the tears from his eyes and then yawned.

“Tired?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t any worse than last time, but. Still exhausting.”

“I’m sure.” She leaned down and kissed his forehead. “I promised these two I’d bring them by to see you and the baby before bedtime.”

Kent smiled. “Thank you.” He cradled both kids’ heads. “You two want to meet your new baby sister?”

“Yeah!” they both cried.

“I’ll take them down to the nursery.” Liv helped Vinny off the bed and gestured for Ari to follow. “You get some more sleep.”

“Okay.”

“I love you, Papi!”

“Love you, Papi!”

“I love you too, _mijos.”_

They ran out the door, laughing the whole way, and Kent smiled after them.

* * *

Kent was _so_ ready to be in his own home again. He climbed out of the car with Jeff’s help and lifted Selena out of her carseat. Cradling her head in the crook of his arm, Kent carried her inside to a suspiciously quiet house.

“Surprise!” Everyone jumped out with little pom poms. Jack and Bitty had helped the kids decorate the living room in balloons and streamers. A large _“ ¡Bienvenidos, Selena!”_ sign hung along one wall and there was a table full of presents underneath it.

The baby immediately started to cry.

“Oh no!” Vinny ran up to Kent. “Why she crying, Papi?”

“Don’t worry, _mijo._ She’s just a little overwhelmed. And she might be hungry.” He glanced at Jeff, who was already pulling a bottle full of water out of the diaper bag. He dumped a scoop full of powder into the water, shook it up, and then handed it to Kent.

“I do it?” Vinny asked.

Kent smiled. “Not this time, _mijo._ Maybe later I can teach you how to feed her.”

“I want to feed her!” Ari ran up and tugged on Kent’s shirt.

“Another time, Ariana. Why don’t you kids bring me those presents and we can open them up?”

Bitty helped the kids gather all the presents onto the living room floor. Jack touched Kent’s shoulder and gestured at the baby. “Do you want me to do that?”

Kent nodded and ushered Jack to the couch, handing over the baby as soon as he was settled. “She’s gotta be starving—she wouldn’t anything eat earlier. Just make sure to hold the bottle like this so she doesn’t get air bubbles.”

Jack held the bottle up and smiled down at her while she ate. “I’ve never done this before.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Kent said, laughing.

“She’s so tiny.”

“I know.” Kent leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I love her so much.”

“Me, too.”

Ari and Vinny tugged on Kent’s hands until he turned his attention toward them. He sat down on the other end of the couch and took the presents from them one by one, finding all kinds of outfits and toys that the kids picked out for their new little sister.

“Look, Papi!” Ari held up a onesie. “This one says ‘Selena’ just like her name! Did they know she was being born?”

Kent smiled. “No, _mija,_ this is Selena like the singer.”

“Like the _bidi bidi bom bom_?”

 _“Bidi bidi!”_ Vinny cried.

“Exactly.”

“Can we put it on her, Papi?”

Kent glanced over at the baby, who was still working on her bottle. “Maybe when she’s done eating. Let’s finish opening the presents for now, though.”

* * *

“Okay. She’s very little, so we have to be very careful, okay?”

Ari nodded vigorously. “Okay, Papi.”

Kent propped a pillow under Ari’s elbow and gestured for Bitty to lay the baby in her arms. Ari had a huge smile on her face. When Selena started fussing, Ari said, “Shhh, it’s okay, _mija,”_ and bounced her gently like Kent always did.

“Oh my god, I’m going to cry.”

Vinny crawled up on the couch and leaned over them, touching the baby’s leg. “Shhh, it okay.”

Kent rubbed at his eyes. “God, I can’t believe—” He laughed. “I’m just so fucking lucky.”

Jack wrapped an arm around his shoulder while Jeff took his hand. Bitty smiled up at them from Ari’s side, his hand hovering protectively in front of the baby.

Jeff kissed his cheek. “We’re some of the luckiest men on earth.”

“Yeah.” He squeezed Jeff's hand and leaned his head on Jack's shoulder. Kent took in his family, all here in one room, and wiped the tears from his eyes. “The luckiest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **TRANSLATIONS**  
>  **Most used:**  
>  ** _Tía:_** Aunt/Auntie  
>  ** _Papi:_** Daddy  
>  ** _mijo:_** my son (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _mija:_** my daughter (like "kiddo")  
>  ** _cariño:_** sweetheart  
>  **Phrases:**  
>  ** _¡Carne asada, por favor!:_** Carne asada, please!  
>  ** _¡Gracias, Papi!:_** Thank you, Daddy!  
>  ** _¿Vicente, quieres más?:_** Vicente, do you want more?  
>  ** _¡Más, Papi!:_** More, Daddy!  
>  ** _Bienvenidos, mi cielito.:_** Welcome, my little sky/heaven.  
>  ** _Te quiero.:_** I love you.  
>  ** _Te quiero también, mijo.:_** I love you too, son.  
>  ** _¡Bienvenidos, Selena!:_** Welcome, Selena!

**Author's Note:**

> Hoooo baby. This thing got LONG. Many thanks to my discord buddies who cheered me on when I needed to write! And a billion kudos to X and Y for beta services!
> 
> ***Pau, mi amor! I hope you enjoyed this! I felt like I was channeling you while writing--thanks for such an awesome prompt <3***
> 
> Fun fact: Kent's sister was originally named "Jules" until I remembered that it was the name of Kent's kid in one of your verses. So now she's "Liv" :)
> 
> Come hang out with me on tumblr!


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